NFL visits Munich: American football explained briefly and in detail

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Americans eat over a billion chicken wings and over 14,000 tons of chips in front of their TV sets. On Sunday the NFL comes to Munich for the second time. In the The New York Giants will play against the Carolina Panthers in the sold out Allianz Arena. But how does the game work and what makes the NFL so special?

The teams

In American football, two teams face each other. Both teams have a squad of up to 53 players, divided into offense, defense and special teams. During the game, there will be up to a maximum of eleven players against each other on each side at the same time.

The game

American football is played for a total of 60 minutes in four quarters. Quarters last 15 minutes each and there is a 12-minute halftime break after the second quarter. The playing field of an American football field is 100 yards long, with two end zones with an additional ten yards at the end of the field.

Teams attempt to gain ten yards from the line of scrimmage in a maximum of four attempts (“downs”). If one team fails to do this, the other team receives the ball at that time. As a rule, if the team does not cover ten yards after three attempts, a “point” is scored on the fourth attempt.

Touchdown, Field Goal, Safety

Points can be scored in American football in different ways: The goal of each team is to throw and run the ball into one of two end zones. A team gets six points for the goal they scored there.

After this, a team can score one or two points through a field goal, a field goal, or another goal. In addition to a touchdown, teams can also score points with a field goal or safety. Teams are awarded three points for a field goal and two points for a safety.

Penalties, big plays

A special feature of American football is the large number of different penalties They can turn a game in one direction or the other within a few seconds. For example, in a pass blocking situation, a team can cover many yards without completing a successful pass.

Another special feature is called “big plays”, where players cover the field in a short time and score immediately or put the team in a very good starting position.

Dead NFL

With an annual revenue of about $20 billion, the National Football League will be the highest-grossing sports league in the world in 2023. In terms of average attendance, the American professional league is also far ahead of every other sports league. The NFL consists of a total of 32 teams, which are organized as franchises in two conferences.

There are four divisions in the conferences with four teams each. A season includes the preseason, regular season and play-offs. At the end of the play-offs, the Super Bowl will be held, where the NFL champions will be decided.