How do Bayern Munich benefit from the NFL Germany Game?

For the second time, Bayern Munich have hosted an NFL game at the Allianz Arena. The Bayern bosses hope the partnership with the NFL will help the club grow in the United States.

Undoubtedly, the second NFL Germany Game at the Allianz Arena has been a massive success. Despite two rather mediocre opponents in the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers, 70,132 packed into Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Make no mistake—from a financial, commercial, and marketing standpoint, that’s a significant win for Bayern. After all, the millions of viewers in the United States who tuned into the game at 6:30 a.m. Pacific, 9:30 a.m. Eastern, will have been introduced to the Bundesliga’s most successful club.

Those viewers were also fed with the archetypical stereotypes and beauty of a city that, for many Americans, gives away the illusion that Munich and Bavaria are quintessential German—Gegenpressing readers, of course, know better. There is no better advertising.

There was something strange about the fact that the nominal host, the Panthers, and the “visiting” team, the Giants, tapped into Bavarian stereotypes.  The Giants rented out Munich’s famous Hofbräuhaus to turn it into the club’s HQ for the weekend and the Panthers held a fan event at Augustiner-Bräu.