Munich gets European League of Football team

While the second ELF season is slowly getting into the hot phase and the Vienna Vikings and the Raiders Tirol are on a playoff course four rounds before the end of the regular season, planning for the next season is in full swing in the background. Yesterday, Wednesday, the league announced that Munich would be the fourth newcomer for 2023.

Goal: 24 teams

After the premiere season of the ELF 2021 with eight franchises and 12 teams participating this year, the league is continuing its expansion. However, the accession of Munich should not remain the last newcomer. “We have set ourselves the goal of playing with 24 teams for the coming years. It is important to emphasize that we are a European league. The majority of the teams will come from abroad,” explains managing director Zeljko Karajica.

Commissioner Patrick Esume welcomes Munich in a short video via social media and is very pleased with the eighth German team to join the international football league. Like Karajica, the ex-professional is convinced that “more attractive locations can be presented in the next few years”. “Interest in the European League of Football is huge.”

Munich was the last missing piece of the puzzle in Germany. With the Rhein Fire, Stuttgart Surge, Berlin Thunder, Hamburg Sea Devils, Frankfurt Galaxy, Cologne Centurions and the Leipzig Kings, the German expansion is now complete. In addition to the two Austrian representatives, Raiders and Vikings, teams from Spain (Barcelona Dragons), Turkey (Istanbul Rams) and Poland (Panthers Wroclaw) also take part in the ELF.

Next season, three more countries will be added: Italy (Milan), Hungary (Budapest) and Switzerland (Zurich). In the current season, four games of the regular season are still outstanding before the playoffs start on September 10th. The final will take place on September 25th in Klagenfurt’s Wörthersee Stadium.