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NFL to Play Regular-Season Games in Munch, Frankfurt

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has announced that there will be more international games in the upcoming seasons than ever before.

The big news coming out is that Munich and Frankfurt, Germany will host four games over the next four seasons. Each city will host two games, with Munich hosting the first ever NFL game in Germany and mainland Europe next season.

The Allianz Arena, where famous soccer team Bayern Munich play, is the site for the games in Munich and in Frankfurt, the Deutsche Bank Stadium, or more commonly known as Waldstadion, is the location.

Along with the game in Munich, there are five total games next season that will take place internationally. Mexico will host one game while the U.K. will host three. The games in England will include a Jacksonville Jaguars game at Wembley Stadium and the other two are at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The NFL did host games in Germany before, with five preseason games played between 1990 and 1994.

The NFL granted permission to 18 NFL teams access to 26 International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) across eight different countries. This allows the teams to build their brands in their IHMA, where they increase fan engagement, marketing and commercialization to improve their international fan bases.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have an IHMA in Mexico which they can grow their already large Mexican fan base over the next five years. The Steelers played a preseason game in Mexico in 2000 against the Indianapolis Colts, which resulted in a 24-23 loss.

Four teams have an IHMA in Germany, which are the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The NFL says that every team will play an international game over the next eight seasons and that the league will “use its best efforts to ensure clubs play their international games in their International HMAs, where possible.”

Former Steelers cornerback, Steve Nelson, posted his confusion on the NFL’s announcement by asking what Munich actually is.