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It’s getting down to business in the NFL: Kansas City Chiefs in the game against Cleveland Browns. © IMAGO/UPI Photo
Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan discusses the challenge of the new NFL season as Super Bowl champion and the November game in Germany.
Mark Donovan, you’re starting the new NFL season as the Super Bowl champion. How excited are you?
It’s an exciting time for our franchise. As the reigning Super Bowl winner, great opportunities and great challenges await you. Our schedule is quite difficult this year, but our team looks forward to taking on the challenge. We’re going to open the NFL season, it doesn’t get any better than that. All eyes are then on this game. We will celebrate with our fans, in the stadium but also worldwide. We are full of energy and have many things planned. The anticipation among our fans and players is unbelievable. We had the biggest training camp in our history, over 100,000 people came to see us train.
It will be a special season for the Chiefs, in November you will meet the Dolphins in Frankfurt. Remember the moment you realized: Oh, there are a hell of a lot of football fans in Germany.
It has been known for a long time that the passion for football in Germany is huge and that the enthusiasm has always been there. Our CEO Clark Hunt always had the vision to make our game even more popular internationally. In 1990, we were the first NFL team to play a preseason game in Germany. In 2015 we played in London, in 2019 in Mexico City. The league wants to grow and Germany has always been a big part of that plan. When we considered in 2020 and 2021 as part of the Global Market Program in which country we wanted to secure the marketing rights, Germany was immediately at the top. The experiences since we got the rights are unbelievable. A few years ago Clark Hunt and I were at Spobis in Düsseldorf and the feedback was overwhelming. When we flew back, we said to ourselves: we knew it was going to be big. But we had no idea it would be this big. We struggled a lot to play the first NFL game in Munich last year and were disappointed at first. But we’ve seen the success and believe this year will be even bigger.
How did you perceive the football party in Munich last year?
The numbers were unbelievable, the demand for tickets, the TV ratings. The weekend exceeded expectations. The atmosphere during the game, the whole stadium sings Country Roads long after the game is over… We all thought: Wow, it’s incredible what they’re doing there. It’s nice to see the impact our game has on the fans.
To person
Mark Donovan (57), President of the Kansas City Chiefs, speaks about the anticipation of the new round and the guest appearance in Frankfurt in November before the NFL season begins on Thursday night. FR
The game against the Dolphins sold out in minutes. What do you expect from the Chiefs’ performance in Frankfurt?
We are very much looking forward to presenting our team to the German fans. We have some of the greatest superstars in our sport. We expect that last year’s success will be increased again. We want to increase our reach in Germany and give fans direct contact with us.
You mentioned the superstars, Patrick Mahomes is probably the best football player in the world at the moment. The Dolphins are also peppered with difference players. The perfect duel for Germany?
This is a big game for the NFL and it speaks for Germany that the league is allowing the game to take place in Frankfurt. We are very proud of this. We have the most successful team of the last five years. We’ve been to three of the last five Super Bowls and won two of them. And yes, I agree with you, we have the best player in the league (laughs).
There were parties in numerous restaurants in Munich, what are your plans for Frankfurt?
We plan to take over Frankfurt (laughs). We will bring all the power of the league to Frankfurt. Everyone who will be there will feel how big the league is. I think the atmosphere will be electric again. We will organize various fan activities and I hope everyone who leaves Frankfurt feels a bit closer to our team.
2023-09-06 10:40:08
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