On the day Berlin marked the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, America’s game lit up the German capital. The Indianapolis Colts beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-25 in overtime at the refurbished Olympiastadion. From tortilla-cannon catches and singalongs of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” to Jonathan Taylor’s 83-yard touchdown and DJ Scooter in the endzone, the 72,203 fans savoured a barrage of entertainment and German clichés.
Players praised the setting. “Frankfurt two years ago was insane, and now in the Olympic Stadium here in Berlin, what a historic stadium, what a great place to play football,” said Colts tackle Bernhard Raimann after the game.
Making the NFL’s return to Berlin possible required work. Two locker-room areas were merged to fit larger NFL squads (though the Colts still couldn’t complete postgame locker-room interviews for lack of space). Ten new sinks, 11 toilets and 18 urinals were added. Four doors were widened and hot-water capacity increased. On the field, a plastic surface was laid and a new hybrid turf mat stitched on top; two pole-vault runways were removed.
The Berlin Senate says €5 million will be available between 2025 and 2029 for Olympic Stadium renovations and other public sports facilities — part of the €12.5 million set aside for NFL games. Reportedly, the NFL is investing nearly €50 million. Officials say the stadium is now able to host NFL games without further temporary changes for the next four years.
“We are now a multifunctional arena for soccer, track and field, and American football,” Christoph Meyer, director of events and communication at the Olympiastadion, told DW. He described the upgrades as “legacy measures” coordinated with the NFL and built with future games in mind, avoiding repeated temporary renovations.
The Olympiastadion’s history adds weight to the event. It’s where Jesse Owens won four gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler, where Usain Bolt ran 9.58 seconds over 100m, and where Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final. That lineage matters to players: “This is a historic place,” said Jonathan Taylor. “To kind of be a part of that, it makes me feel like I’m a part of that lineage.” Teammate Zaire Franklin echoed the sentiment, noting the humbling sense of playing where Owens achieved greatness.
Still, history may struggle to compete with cutting-edge venues. Many German stadiums were modernised for the 2006 World Cup and upgraded again for Euro 2024, but investment in stadium infrastructure has lagged. Architect Bianca Binder of Populous — on-site project manager for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — has noted Germany is an attractive market, though she didn’t speak specifically about stadiums.
Top venues elsewhere feature advanced technology. Tottenham’s stadium has a retractable-pitch system that switches between grass and an artificial turf ideal for NFL games; the renovated Bernabéu in Madrid has an even more elaborate system and will host Spain’s first NFL game. Such designs make hosting American football easier but come with heavy costs: clubs have taken on large debts to build these facilities, often with 20-plus-year repayment horizons — moves not feasible for every club or market, particularly given Germany’s more complex operational framework for stadium financing.
With the NFL increasingly established in Europe and reports that the NBA is exploring a European league in 2027, these investments seem sensible for cities aiming to make American sports regular visitors. Yet German stadia are also cultural monuments; the Olympiastadion’s historic status is prized by fans and players alike.
The question remains whether historic venues with patchwork adaptations will satisfy teams and leagues for the long term. Atmosphere and legacy matter, but so do locker-room space, consistent playing surfaces and modern amenities. As European hosts offer more comfortable, retractable-pitch stadiums built with multi-sport flexibility in mind, will the NFL and its teams accept temporary fixes — however atmospheric — or push for deeper, costlier renovations?
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
