2022 will see the NFL return to Germany for the first time in over 15 years. With a game scheduled to be played in Munich, we now know one of the two teams that will be playing there.
According to Sports Business Journal NFL insider Ben Fischer, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the designated home team for the game. A formal announcement will reportedly come this Monday but the date and opponent are not yet known.
The Buccaneers are one of four NFL teams that the league gave priority for marketing initiatives in Germany. The other four are the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots.
It would certainly be something if the first game in Germany is a Bucs-Chiefs Super Bowl LV rematch. But an NFC South showdown with the Panthers would also be cool given the potential division title stakes. Tampa Bay don’t play the Patriots next year, so it’s not going to be them.
The game will be played at Allianz Arena, one of the largest stadiums in the entire world. A capacity crowd would probably be there for Bucs-Chiefs over Bucs-Panthers.
News: The @Buccaneers will be the home team in the @NFL‘s first regular season game in Germany this fall, sources tell me. Formal announcement to come Monday. No date or opponent known yet.
— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) February 25, 2022
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played in the NFL International Series three times. All three were losses, with the most recent coming against the Carolina Panthers in 2019. They are the only NFL team to have multiple International Series losses and no wins.
But those games were all in England. Perhaps the Buccaneers will have better luck in Germany.
Then again, they probably won’t have the recently-retired Tom Brady for the 2022 season.
Will the Titans end their International Series losing streak in Germany next year?
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