Chiefs schedule: Miami Dolphins will face Kansas City in Germany

After months of rumors surrounding the upcoming regular-season schedule and specifically about their initial dip into European marketing efforts, the Kansas City Chiefs have finally revealed their first-ever opponent in Germany: the Miami Dolphins.

The Chiefs have known for years that they were going to begin to build an overseas fan base (or provide a European base for fans to visit) in Germany after the National Football League awarded the franchise the rights to market there (along with three other teams). At that point, it was only a matter of time before the league was going to schedule a “home” game there for K.C., and 2023 was the first season.

The agreement to establish NFL games in Germany included a decision on two primary host cities: Munich and Frankfurt. Last year, Munich hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks, so that means this year’s edition will take place in Frankfurt.

For weeks, it was speculated via a rumor from the German newspaper Bild that the Chiefs would host the Chicago Bears. Perhaps that was, at one time, the agreement, but recent days found a new rumor floating that the Chiefs shot down that proposal, using a special power given to the “home” team to say no to one single opponent. Now it’s the Dolphins who are going overseas.

It’s interesting to see Miami here as the opponent for the Chiefs knowing that the homecoming of wide receiver Tyreek Hill would have been huge news in Kansas City. Instead, Hill will not have a moment back at his former home stadium for quite some time–if at all. That said, Hill playing against his former team is a headline that will play well anywhere, including a new territory in which the NFL is trying to build a greater fan base. That drama will sell.

The NFL will reveal the rest of its regular-season schedule on May 11.