European League of Football

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Not to be confused with European Football League, BIG6 European Football League, or NFL Europe.

European League of Football
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2022 European League of Football season
ELF-Logo-WhiteOutline.svg
SportAmerican football
Founded4 November 2020; 13 months ago (2020-11-04)
Inaugural season2021
Owner(s)SEH Sports & Entertainment Holding, Patrick Esume
CEOZeljko Karajica
CommissionerPatrick Esume
No. of teams12
Countries Austria
 Germany
 Poland
 Spain
 Turkey
HeadquartersHamburg, Germany
ContinentEurope
Most recent
champion(s)		Germany Frankfurt Galaxy
(1st title)
Most titlesGermany Frankfurt Galaxy
(1 title)
TV partner(s)
Official websiteeuropeanleague.football

The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league that is the first fully professional[dubious – discuss] league in Europe since the demise of NFL Europe in 2007. The league (as of the 2022 season) consists of 12 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria and Turkey, with plans to expand to at least 20 teams in future years.[1] The new league was officially created in November 2020, and kicked off on 19 June 2021.[2]

History[]

The announcement of the league was met with skepticism from some Germans involved in the sport due to the failures of similar leagues in the past. The Chairman of the German Football League (GFL), Robert Huber, said, "...we have experience over the last forty years in running leagues in Germany and in Europe and we have a pretty good insight into what the teams are capable of". However, Commissioner Patrick Esume firmly believes that this league will succeed because "American football is experiencing a boom in Germany".[3]

The first two new franchises to reveal their identity have been Ingolstadt Praetorians and Hanover-based team German Knights 1367, in early December 2020.[4][5] They were followed by the Spanish team Gladiators Football, who also revealed they will play their games out of Costa Daurada, and will be coached by long-time CFL coach Adam Rita.[6][7]

In March 2021, the league announced it has reached an agreement with the NFL, to be able to use the team names from the days of NFL Europe. On the same day, it was announced the franchises in Hamburg and Frankfurt will use the previous names of Hamburg Sea Devils and Frankfurt Galaxy.[8] The Sea Devils also introduced their new head coach, former special teams coach for multiple NFL teams, Ted Daisher.[9] It was then announced that the franchises in Ingolstadt and Hannover aren't ready to launch in 2021, so they were replaced with two new teams, in Leipzig and Cologne, and also that the franchises in Cologne, Berlin and Barcelona will use their names from NFL Europe.[10]

In June 2021, the league announced a partnership agreement with the Brazilian Football Federation, Brasil Futebol Americano, that will see exchange opportunities for selected players, coaches and officials, as well as the possibility of organizing a match between the ELF and BFA champions in the future.[11]

In July 2021, the league announced its inaugural All-Star Game, which will be held one week after the end of the season, on October 3 (German Unity Day), at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. It will feature a selection of the best players from the ELF, playing against the United States men's national American football team.[12] Similar to the rules for rosters of individual teams, the all star team is limited to a maximum of four Americans of which only two can be on the field at any given time.

Goals[]

The ELF has said they hope to bring back the excitement around American football that existed in the era of NFL Europe. Unlike NFL Europe, whose team rosters consisted of mostly American players, there will be restrictions to the number of international players allowed on rosters. There will be a bigger focus given to homegrown players, with the goal to develop the best of these players into NFL prospects. One way they plan on doing this is by creating an "ELF Academy". While ELF franchises will not have "youth teams", CEO Zeljko Karajica says that the academy will "...give players the opportunity to make the next step", which would be the skills to succeed in the ELF and compete for a spot on an NFL team.

Rules and salary[]

The ELF plays with modified NFL rules, except for the overtime, where they use college football's rules. Unlike most European sports leagues (including European American football leagues) a game that is still tied at the end of regulation during the regular season goes to overtime. However, no overtime was actually played in the inaugural 2021 season as all games had a winner after regulation. During the regular season of the inaugural 2021 season, the ELF did not have instant replay or other forms of Replay review in gridiron football (such as "Coach's challenge"), however this feature was introduced for the 2021 ELF Bowl as well as announced for the upcoming season.

On 30 November 2021, the official Twitter account of the European League of Football announced a new kickoff rule. The new rule sees the kicking teams players, except the kicker, line up on their opponents 35-yard line, while the receiving teams players, except the returner, line up on their own 30-yard line. Both teams are only allowed to move when the ball has either been touched by the returner or three seconds after the ball has touched the ground. This rule is nearly identical to the Kickoff rule used by the 2020 iteration of the XFL. Only the requirement, that the ball must be kicked between the receiving teams 20-yard line and endzone, is, at this time, not a part of the rule. The main cited reason for the rule change was player safety.[13]

Rosters will consist of a maximum of 60 players, plus another 5 on the practice squad. Because homegrown players are one of the main focus points of the league, there are limitations for the numbers of foreigners. Each roster can only have a maximum of 4 American players, and a maximum of 10 non-American foreign players (outside of a team's home country).[2] However, the Bosman ruling prevents discrimination against EU citizens in EU based sports teams and leagues. Brazilian players do not count towards the import quota due to the league's partnership with Liga BFA. [11]

For American "import" players the league pays a salary that can range from €600 (around $700) to €3,000 ($3,500) per month, and provides housing, health insurance and two meals per day to import players during the season.[14]

Teams[]

In the inaugural 2021 season the ELF had 8 teams (6 in Germany, 1 in Poland and 1 in Spain) split into 2 divisions: North (Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and Wrocław) and South (Barcelona, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart).

The ELF currently (as of the upcoming 2022 season) has 12 teams, divided into 3 conferences. The league has 7 teams in Germany, 2 in Austria, and 1 team each from Poland, Spain and Turkey.[15]

Location of ELF teams
  • Blue pog.svg Northern Conference
  • Green pog.svg Central Conference
  • Red pog.svg Southern Conference

Current teams[]

Team City Stadium(s) Capacity Joined Head coach
Northern Conference
Berlin Thunder Germany Berlin Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark 19,708 2021 Germany Jhonny Schmuck
Hamburg Sea Devils Germany Hamburg Stadion Hoheluft 11,000 2021 TBA
Leipzig Kings Germany Leipzig Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark 4,999 2021 United States Fred Armstrong
Wrocław Panthers Poland Wrocław Wrocław Olympic Stadium 11,000 2021 Poland Jakub Samel
Central Conference
Frankfurt Galaxy Germany Frankfurt PSD Bank Arena 12,542 2021 Germany Thomas Kösling
Raiders Tirol Austria Innsbruck Tivoli Stadion Tirol 16,008 2022 United States Kevin Herron
Stuttgart Surge Germany Stuttgart Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau 11,410 2021 Germany Martin Hanselmann
Vienna Vikings Austria Vienna Hohe Warte Stadium /
Generali Arena 		5,500 /
17,500 		2022 United States Chris Calaycay
Southern Conference
Barcelona Dragons Spain Reus Estadi Municipal 4,700 2021 TBA
Rhein Fire Germany Düsseldorf TBA TBA 2022 TBA
Istanbul Rams Turkey Istanbul Yusuf Ziya Öniş Stadium 9,377[a] 2022 United States Val Gunn
Cologne Centurions Germany Cologne Südstadion 11,748 2021 Germany Frank Roser
  1. ^ Stadium capacity after current renovations

Expansion plans[]

When established, the ELF stated they have plans to expand to at least 20 teams from 10 countries in the future. According to commissioner Patrick Esume, the league has attracted interest in Austria, Spain, France, and England. One specific team mentioned to be interested in joining the league was the London Warriors.[16] In April 2021, Frankfurt Galaxy GM Alexander Korosek revealed that, in addition to London, franchises in Istanbul, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Madrid are likely to be added within the next 2 years, while groups in Milan, Bucharest, Sofia and Brussels will be joining at later dates.[17]

2022 expansions[]

The first two expansion teams for the 2022 season were the pre-existing Vienna Vikings and Tyrolean Raiders, serial champions of the Austrian Football League, similar to how the Wroclaw Panthers were an existing team from another league (in that case the PLFA) prior to joining the ELF.

Due to the choice of Düsseldorf as host for the first Championship Game and the strong and enduring fan base of the old Rhein Fire of the NFL Europe, speculations abounded that an expansion to Düsseldorf would be announced at or around the Championship Game.[18] The league further fueled such speculation by alluding to the connection between Merkur Spiel-Arena and Rhein Fire in promotional material released days ahead of the 25 September official confirmation[19] that a new Rhein Fire team would indeed be joining the league.[20]

Champions[]

Team Titles Runners-up Year(s) won Year(s) runner-up
Frankfurt Galaxy 1 0 2021 –
Hamburg Sea Devils 0 1 – 2021

Championship Games[]

Bold Winning team of the Championship Game
No. Year Team 1 Team 2 Venue City Attendance MVP Ref
I 2021 Hamburg Sea Devils 30 Frankfurt Galaxy 32 Merkur Spiel-Arena Germany Düsseldorf, Germany 22,000[21] (QB, Frankfurt Galaxy) [22]
II 2022 Wörthersee Stadion Austria Klagenfurt, Austria

ELF All Star Game[]

Bold Winning team of the All Star Game
Year Home Away Venue City Attendance Ref
2021 ELF All Stars 26 8 Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark Germany Berlin, Germany [23][24]

Broadcasting[]

For the inaugural season, the league signed a deal to have 13 games, including the playoffs and championship game, broadcast live in Germany on ProSieben Maxx, with all other games streamed live on ran.de and More Than Sports TV.[25][26] All games are also available worldwide, on the league's website, service provided by British company StreamAMG.[27]

Region(s) Broadcaster(s)
Germany Germany ProSieben Maxx
ranSport
More Than Sports TV
Spain Spain Esport3[28]
International ELF Gamepass

References[]

  1. ^ "Pro football returns to Europe: European League of Football kicks off in 2021". AmericanFootballInternational.com. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Neues Hamburger Footballteam spielt im Stadion Hoheluft" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. ^ "A nation divided: Germany's football leaders react to the European League of Football". American Football International. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  4. ^ @elf_official (3 December 2020). "New YouTube video live now! Check it out. Portrait of our first Franchise" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "German Knights 1367 Niedersachsen sind das ELF Team in Hannover / Hildesheim" (in German). 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Gladiators from Spain newest addition to the European League of Football". 11 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  7. ^ @Gladiators_ELF (14 February 2021). "ADAM RITA is our new HEAD COACH!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Football-Comeback des Jahres: Hamburg Sea Devils und Frankfurt Galaxy starten in der ELF". ran.de (in German). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Ex-NFL-Trainer Ted Daisher wird Head Coach bei Hamburg Sea Devils". ran.de (in German). 12 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Shake-up to inaugural ELF line-up announced; 3 new franchises enter, 2 exit". americanfootballinternational.com. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b "ELF announces partnership agreement with Brazilian American Football".
  12. ^ "European League of Football All-Star Game". 13 July 2021.
  13. ^ "https://twitter.com/elf_official/status/1465686308030980097". Twitter. Retrieved 8 December 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  14. ^ "European League Updates".
  15. ^ "European League of Football announced for June 2021 - SportsPro Media". www.sportspromedia.com. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. ^ "European League of Football - Q&A". youtube.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Ein altbekannter, traditionsreicher Name ist zurück: Frankfurt Galaxy". youtube.com (in German). Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Hoffnung auf die Rückkehr von Rhein Fire" (in German). 14 May 2021.
  19. ^ "New Franchise Announced: Düsseldorf Rhein Fire". 25 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Dream-Stadium: The MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA And Its Rich History". 22 September 2021.
  21. ^ "ELF Championship Game scoring summary" (PDF). europeanleague.football. ELF. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  22. ^ "European League of Football Championship Game". ticketmaster. ELF. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  23. ^ "The European League of Football All-Stars win over the US Federation National Team".
  24. ^ "ELF All-Stars down hodge-podge US Federation team in defensive affair".
  25. ^ "European League of Football ab Juni 2021 live auf ProSieben MAXX und ran.de" (in German). ran.de. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  26. ^ "European League of Football on More Than Sports TV". europeanleague.football. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  27. ^ "It's official! With our new partner @streamamg you will never miss a game again!". facebook.com. 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  28. ^ "European League of Football Goes Catalonia! Esport3 Presents All Barcelona Dragons Games". europeanleague.football. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.

Notes[]

External links[]

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