NFL in Munich
:
First the event, then the sport – that has to change
opinion Munich The first NFL game in Germany between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks was a great event that everyone who was there will surely remember for a long time. Not everyone noticed that the game was good in the end.
Like pretty much every coach or player, superstar Tom Brady also praised the spectators in Munich’s Allianz Arena on Sunday evening at the first NFL game in Germany. He emphasized one moment in particular: When the almost 70,000 people shouted out loud “Country Roads” by John Denver sang. This moment was “epic”. Sure, he was very special, also thanks to the tens of thousands of cell phone lights that made for a great picture. But he also showed what this game was primarily for most of the fans: an event.
Because this moment happened exactly two minutes before the end, i.e. during the “Two Minute Warning”, where there is another interruption. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were only just ahead and had the ball, the Seattle Seahawks tried to get on the field again with the offensive to turn the 16:21 after all. So it was exciting. Then, on the first play after the two-minute marning, Tampa’s Rachaad White rushed for 18 yards, cleverly staying in field to keep the clock ticking, and deciding the game. Seattle now had no chance to prevent the end of the season. However, there was no audible reaction to this in the stadium – too many were still busy smashing the hit.
Football is also an event, some might say now. Especially in the US. It’s correct. But there you manage to put the focus on the game anyway. That was only partly successful on Sunday in Munich. For most, what will be remembered is the experience. Few probably appreciate Seattle’s comeback – albeit too late – in which Geno Smith made several outstanding throws on the fourth just on the way to the second touchdownen attempt showed. And hardly anyone will have thought during the game that the Buccaneers’ running game suddenly worked much better than last and that that was an important factor in the victory.
However, that is not surprising. A not insignificant part of the German football community has become a fan over the past ten or eleven years, when ProSiebenSat.1 regularly brought the sport to free TV with its show “ranNFL”. There, the people outside of the game play a very important role. Not every football fan likes that, many prefer to watch Dazn or buy the NFL’s Game Pass. “Ran” has undoubtedly made football suitable for the masses and bigger in Germany, but what is rightly criticized is the somewhat missing focus on the essentials: the game.
But back to Munich and to an audience that of course not only consisted of Seahawks and Buccaneers fans, but of supporters from all 32 teams in the NFL. A large proportion enjoyed the game – or even the event – from a neutral perspective and then got into “Country Roads” rather than the noise that one usually makes when the opposing team is standing on the third try. Or with Micki Krause. “It felt different,” said Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith after he was asked about the atmosphere. Like everyone else who later appeared at the press conferences, he described the atmosphere afterwards as “great” and “electrifying”. All players and coaches were very similar in their choice of words.
You won’t have said it just to be nice, either. Because the bottom line is that it was a great experience in the Allianz Arena and Germany showed the NFL that they are welcome here and that they can play games here without hesitation. Over time, the feeling for the game itself might get better and the stadium DJ will become less important. It would be desirable, because the sport itself has enough to offer.
#NFL #Munich #event #sport #change