NFL to Play 1st Game in Munich, Germany, During 2022 Regular Season

The NFL will stage its first-ever game in Munich, Germany, during the 2022 season.

The league announced Wednesday that it's partnering with Bundesliga club Bayern Munich to expand its International Series into Germany.

The NFL will also have two games in Frankfurt, Germany, within the next four years.

"We are very pleased to welcome Munich and Frankfurt to the NFL family and are excited to reward our fans in Germany for their passion by bringing them the spectacle of regular-season NFL football," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

It's not as if the NFL is in a difficult financial situation, especially after having just signed new television deals collectively worth more than $100 billion. However, some have wondered for years whether the league has effectively maximized its market share in the United States.

The International Series is a way for the NFL to continue widening its foothold abroad and thus discover new revenue streams. London was the first stop in 2007 before the league moved south to Mexico City in 2016.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL scrapped plans for international games in 2020 and steered clear of Mexico City this past season. Goodell confirmed Estadio Azteca will re-enter the rotation starting in 2022.

Last March, The MMQB's Albert Breer shared a portion from a presentation in which the NFL laid out plans to add Germany to the International Series:

In December, Munich's city council threw its support behind a bid to have an NFL regular-season game at Allianz Arena. With a capacity of 75,000, the venue is the second-biggest in the Bundesliga.

In addition to Munich and Frankfurt, Dusseldorf was one of three finalists for the International Series.

This won't be the NFL's first foray into Germany.

The World League of American Football, which later rebranded to NFL Europe, launched in 1991 and included the Frankfurt Galaxy. The Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Hamburg Sea Devils and Rhein Fire were later added as expansion franchises.