Munich, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt Named Finalists for 2022 or 2023 NFL Game in Germany

The NFL announced Tuesday that Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt are the finalists to host a regular-season game in Germany during either the 2022 or 2023 season.

Per Ken Maguire of the Associated Press, the NFL's statement read :

"After an initial period in which expressions of interest were received from multiple cities, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich have been invited to proceed to the 'candidate phase' of the process. Those cities will now participate in deeper conversations about staging games in Germany."

The NFL has yet to specify if the first regular-season game to be played in Germany will occur in 2022 or 2023. While 2022 is the target, NFL head of Europe and UK Brett Gosper said the game will take place "certainly no later than '23."

Gosper also issued a statement regarding the league's plans leading up to a game in Germany:

"As well as identifying a stadium that is fully capable of handling the logistics of an NFL game, we want to work with a host consortium that comprises local and regional government, stadium ownership, local stakeholders and potential commercial partners. We want this to be a long-term partnership."

The NFL's attempt to expand into the German market is nothing new, as the league held preseason games there between 1990-1994.

Each of those games were played in Germany's capital, Berlin, which is not a finalist for the initial regular-season game in Germany.

While it has been 27 years since an NFL game of any kind was last played in Germany, the league has remained prevalent in Europe with its yearly regular-season games in England.

Since 2007, the NFL has played 29 regular-season games in London. The most recent one was Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets faced off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins will meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this coming Sunday for a Week 6 game also.

All told, 39 regular-season games have been played outside the United States over the years with six in Canada and four in Mexico in addition to the 29 played in the United Kingdom.

In April, the NFL owners agreed to a new scheduling plan that will see four games played internationally every season beginning in 2022.

The league has yet to announce the official breakdown, but if Germany is worked into the rotation in 2022, it is likely it will receive one game with two in London and one in Mexico City.

Per Maguire, the NFL is also looking into the possibility of expanding its international outreach even further in future years with games in France, Spain and Scandinavia potentially in the cards.