Nordic Storm will join the European League of Football (ELF) in the 2025 season. Based in the Danish capital Copenhagen, the team will be the 18th franchise in the European football league and the first professional one in the north of the continent.
There is a special reason why the team’s name does not refer to Denmark or Copenhagen, but to the north: homegrown players, i.e. local players who make up the majority of the squad, are both players from Denmark and Sweden. In German teams, for example, only German players are considered homegrown.
“We want to bring together the most talented players in the north who are currently active in the ELF or national leagues and create the best American football team the north has ever seen,” says Michael Planeta, chairman of Nordic Storm.
“Owner group has high ambitions”
In fact, some players from Northern Europe are already playing in the ELF as import players. Ludvig Myren from Berlin Thunder, for example, is on this year’s All-Star team. The Swede could now form a strong team in Copenhagen with some fellow countrymen and Danish players.
“The Nordic countries are traditionally known for producing strong players. The ownership group has high ambitions and is keen to put together a team that can immediately play a good role in the ELF. I absolutely trust them to do that. They share the dream of making football in Scandinavia even bigger and igniting people’s enthusiasm for Nordic Storm,” says league commissioner Patrick Esume.
ELF Managing Director Zeljko Karajica adds: “It was always our wish and a big goal to include a franchise from Scandinavia in the European League of Football. The talks went on for a long time and were very cooperative and trusting. It’s great that it has now worked out, because entering the northern European market represents an important step in the further development of our league in every respect.”
