After their first NFL game on German soil, the six-time Super Bowl champion is expanding his involvement in Germany. As part of the NFL Football Development Weekend in Düsseldorf, the New England Patriots together with the mayor of the city of Düsseldorf, Dr. Stephan Keller announced that they would work together to build a new flag football field in Düsseldorf.
The field will become part of the district sports facility in Garath, which is to be expanded into a center for flag football. A second flag football field is also planned there.
“We are pleased that the New England Patriots, one of the most successful football teams in the American professional league, is coming to Düsseldorf. A great win for the sports city of Düsseldorf and proof that football is also becoming more and more popular here in Germany. That is our common goal “To become the leading flag football project in Germany. The partnership with the Patriots is an important milestone for us on this path,” explains Mayor of Düsseldorf Dr. Stephen Keller.
For the New England Patriots it is another step towards gaining a foothold in Germany. “Germany is one of the most important markets for us,” explains Joe Dorant, senior director of business development for the franchise. “The German fans have supported us with great commitment for many years. We were also able to experience this at our game in Germany in November. With the flag football field we are taking the next step and want to get people excited about the sport and the fascination of football – no matter how old. We would like to thank the city and Mayor Stephan Keller and look forward to future cooperation. We have come to Düsseldorf to stay.”
In the Arena Sportpark, the NFL Academy (NFLA) organized an NFLA game against the Düsseldorf Panther U20 as well as FLAG viewing tournaments for NRW selection teams, workshops and other FLAG football tryouts in cooperation with the Düsseldorf Panthers and AFCV NRW. In the game against the talents of the NFL Academy with Düsseldorf local hero Joel Queißer, the Panthers put up a good fight, but in the end had to admit defeat to the Academy’s cracks with 19:51 in front of almost 1,000 spectators in the Arena Sportpark. In addition to the mayor of Düsseldorf, Dr. Stephan Keller, numerous NFL representatives were also on site, including former German NFL star Markus Kuhn, Joe Durant from the New England Patriots and Dr. Alexander Steinforth, General Manager of NFL Germany.