Will we see a Buccaneers vs. Chiefs game in Munich in 2022?

For quite some time now, the National Football League has been slowly developing and then releasing a plan to elevate awareness of and passion for the game of American football on a global level. The game has already overtaken baseball as the country’s real “national pastime” and billionaire owners want to make even more money—because that’s what it means to be rich—it only makes sense to look international for the future of the game.

As part of the NFL’s efforts to branch out, Europe has become a significant focus and the league has established a solid beachhead by playing upwards of 30 games in the U.K. These games have become quite popular despite the lack of quality matchups offered there (e.g. Jacksonville’s insistence on being a regular guest), which bodes well for any future endeavors going forward.

One of the territories identified by the league as a future host in Germany and three cities were considered as potential sites: Munich, Frankfurt, and Düsseldorf. The latter was ultimately left off of the list when plans were finalized, and a four-year plan was announced earlier this winter in which Munich and Frankfurt would each host two games apiece—each spaced two years apart. Munich also won the rights to host the first NFL game in Germany.

Will the Chiefs be one of the teams playing in Munich in a few months?

Plans for the German rollout begin in 2022, which means two NFL teams are going to be playing in Munich as soon as later this year. A page for tickets is already up without even knowing the opponents involved.

As part of the league’s international expansion, the NFL asked franchises to apply for countries in which they would want to market themselves. Some teams did not take part, but the Kansas City Chiefs put their hat in the ring for Mexico and Germany and were awarded both. The former had 9 teams attached while the latter only had four. It’s a solid gauge for teams that are likely to end up overseas playing very real football.

If the Chiefs are going to be traveling at some point to Germany in the next four years, they’re likely going to be playing another team with German interest. Those other three teams were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New England Patriots, and the Carolina Panthers (should that be Panzers?).

Next season, the Chiefs were scheduled to visit the Buccaneers already given the way the league’s schedule rotates. The Chiefs are not set to play the Panthers or Patriots next year, so if there’s going to be a matchup for ’22 that makes sense, this is it.

While it’s true the Chiefs do not necessarily have to play there in ’22, the team might be motivated to get there sooner than later. After all, if they can showcase the game’s most popular player as soon as possible, then it means establishing those connections, creating those experiences, gaining that traction as early as possible in this four-year window.

Basically, if you’re working for the Chiefs’ marketing department, you’re pushing as hard as possible to get the team to Germany at the first possible instance, because you want a new emerging audience to see Patrick Mahomes throw to Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. You want them to see Chris Jones dominate up front. You want Clyde Edwards-Helaire to shine and, if he re-signs, Tyrann Mathieu to showcase his love for the game.

If the Chiefs waited a few years, who knows if all of these players are still healthy or even still playing? Will Andy Reid be on the sidelines in three or four years? How far into his thirties will Travis Kelce play? If you have a dynamic product to market here and now, you rush to get it on store shelves.

It also speaks volumes that the Chiefs have been sharing anything Germany-related from the league while also being heavily featured in such material as well.

https://twitter.com/FCBayernUS/status/1491506691145359360

None of this should be read as gospel truth, of course. This is all conjecture, and perhaps the Chiefs will visit there in 2025 to play a game in Frankfurt against an expansion team from London. No one knows for sure.

But at this point, the signs point to something meaningful happening in just a few months, and it might just involve Mahomes and the Chiefs traveling to Munich a bit later this year to face the Buccaneers for one of their 17 scheduled regular-season games in 2022.