LIVESTREAM Austria: Graz Giants @ Salzburg Ducks, March 22, 14:00 CET (2 pm, 9 am ET)

AFI | American Football | 03/22/2025

The Graz Giants (0-0) will travel to Salzburg to face the Salzburg Ducks (0-0) Saturday, March 22 as the Austrian Football League kicks off its 2025 season.

In the only meeting between these two teams in 2024, Graz edged the Ducks 20-17.

The Giants were contenders for the AFL title in 2024 before suffering an upset loss to the eventual champion Prague Black Panthers in the semifinals. Salzburg finished the 2024 season with a 4-6 record but won four of their last six games.

Salzburg has signed former Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns quarterback Ian Gehrke and bolstered the offense with running back Rahsann Lewis, son of legendary NFL linebacker Ray Lewis.

In 2023, Gehrke guided the Unicorns to the German Football League championship game after throwing for a total of 2.608 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Graz have brought back former head coach Rick Rhoades as offensive coordinator and signed quarterback Mateo Renteria. Renteria spent part of the 2024 season with the Stockholm Mean Machines before suffering a season ending injury. He managed to throw for 942 yards yards and 12 touchdowns in five regular season games. He also played in two Central European Football League games with Stockholm guiding the team to a 42-14 victory over the Manchester Titans (British champions) and a narrow 29-27 loss to the La Courneuve Flash (French champions). He threw for 542 yards in those two games with a 72% completion record.

This game will be tough to predict.