NFL Germany Head: League Supports,Doesn’t Direct,European โฃFootball Advancement
Alexander Steinforth,general manager of NFL โฃGermany,clarified theโค league’s role inโ the development of professional football leagues in Europe,stating the NFL aims to โsupport existing structures rather than dictate their formation. โIn a recent interview with “Sport.de andโ NTV/RTL,” Steinforth emphasized a collaborative approach,focusingโค on areas like flag football and fan engagement.
The NFL’s position is notable as multiple European professional football leaguesโข are emerging, including a five-year plan for a league aiming to capture the attention ofโข football fans. Steinforth views โฃthese leagues not as competition, but as complementary entities โthat won’t detract โfrom โthe NFL’s growingโ presence โฃin Germany. Thisโ stance reflects the NFL’s strategy of fostering football’s overall growth internationally, rather than attempting toโ control its evolution.
Steinforth highlightedโ the NFL’s support throughโ facilitating partnerships betweenโ NFL teams and European clubs, leveraging synergies in areas like flag football โคand fan activation. He stated, “We are not the one who granted advice, but try to support wherever possibleโฆThis is the role that we are in combination. To say that and so you have to or should do it.”
He also pointedโฃ to the strength of existing Europeanโ league structures, particularly Germany’s established โGerman Football League (GFL). Steinforth noted Germany is “very far ahead in the international โขcontext,” possessing a matureโข league system that predates recentโ European league initiatives. He believes the NFL’s success in Germany โcan โคcoexist with,and โeven โฃbenefit from,a thriving European and GFL landscape,recognizing “the importance of โsuchโ league structures.”