EuroBowl XXVIII Without a Host

| American Football | 06/24/2014

Braunschweig & Berlin decline host duties for Europe’s traditional club championship game; AFVD steps in to save big game

[su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]he deadline for the application to host the Europe’s top championship, EuroBowl XXVIII, has come and gone without an offer. Neither of the two finalists, the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions and the Berlin Adler, want to host the final of the new Big6 Europe Tournament. The event’s creators, the German Football Association, or AFVD, has had to step in for Braunschweig and Berlin to figure out the arrangements. The AFVD will host and direct the final on their own in Berlin.

It seems as though the teams were somewhat surprised that the event would not contain an Austrian team and therefore hosted in that country. With the Swarco Raiders and Vienna Vikings now out of contention, the final is not much more than an extra GFL league game. The Braunschweig Lions considered hosting it, but withdrew after realizing that: (via a German media source)

“(T)his project is not useful to implement. The decisive factor was the unfortunate situation that the (season would have) ended with three successive home games against teams from Berlin. Also, one week after the EuroBowl, the Lions are scheduled to face the Berlin Adler in a regular GFL home game.”

There has been some disagreement as to why exactly the Lions and Adler have declined the EuroBowl hosting duties, but it certainly seems to be a logical decision. The logistical costs demanded by the Big6/EuroBowl organization does not seem to leave much for the Lions or the Adler to gain as host.

According to the Big6 rules the hosts are required to provide the following:

  1. The organizing/home team or party shall bear the expenses of traveling, board and lodging of the game officials.
  2. The organizing/home team or party has to bear the expenses of the Game Observer´s traveling from the hotel to the field and back
  3. The hosting team shall reimburse the traveling team for their travel cost based on the air distance (one way) between the nearest international airports according to IATA-distances. The amount is a flat fee of €1,600.00 plus €1.60 per kilometer (Maximum pay-out is €5,500.00.) in Big 6 EFL competition. If the traveling team is from the same country than the hosting team both teams and their respective national federation might jointly agree on a different travel reimbursement policy.
  4. Home team/promoter has to provide a maximum of 1 night accommodation (27 twin rooms, 2 singles) (or lump sum fees payout)
  5. 3 meals/day for maximum 56 members of each team – 45 players, 11 coaches/officials (or lump sum fees payout)
  6. Rights (Sanctioning) Fee – Finals- Host team or promoter – Eurobowl: €10,000.00 plus VAT (payable to EFAF in 2014.)

There is no question that the Lions and Adler have emerged as two of the continent’s top teams, but this situation, that hosting what is supposed to be Europe’s premier championship, is now ‘undesirable’, is truly a shame. Hopefully, future cooperation between EFAF/AFVD and IFAF Europe will bring about a true continent-wide Champions Tournament, that will surely attract the attention, sponsorship and media money American football in Europe deserves.

As for now the Euro Bowl XXVIII will be played on July 19, 2014 at 2 p.m. CET 8 a.m. EST in Berlin’s Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. This same stadium will host the German Bowl XXXVI on October 11th.

John McKeon is a former professional and collegiate American Football player and coach now living and working in New York. His goal is to spread news, information, and opinion on the global growth of the sport he loves.