The 2025 NFL Berlin Game
Nov. 10th, 2025 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeThis afternoon we headed down to the Olympiastadion to check out the first NFL regular season game to be played in Berlin in 35 years. The tickets were a mite spendy, coming in at €250 each, but this isn't too dissimilar to the prices of NFL games in the US. As it's just down the road too, we thought we might as well take advantage of seeing our first-ever NFL game.
It was effectively an Indianapolis Colts home game, and the Colts were stationed across the city for most of the week. I headed down to Das Center on Saturday evening to soak up the Fan Zone. This was huge and buzzing, the glass domed area highlighting the noise from the stage. I only caught the final half hour of it - and even then I had to queue to be let in, such were the numbers - but it was all rather joyous. There was a wide receiver catching simulator, a throwing simulator and a load of helmets. On the stage, we saw cheerleaders and other bits, as well as Blue the attractive Colts mascot doing his dancing. He was rated NFL mascot of the year four times and the highlight of the match today was when he threw pies in the faces of two Atlanta Falcons fans. All the usual songs were played including Sweet Caroline and Scooter, who I didn't realise was German. Getting a beer in the Fan Zone proved to be impossible and after hanging around the stage waiting for Blue, I headed off shortly after 10pm. I did drop into BRLO, who were having a Seattle Seahawks event for some reason, but it was all rather obnoxious and noisy, while being on my own wasn't too appealing. I was also tired after yesterday's Fursuit Walk too.
The game itself today was fun, although Wolfie's leg really impaired his mobility. We got to our seats half an hour before the game began and noticed we had been given a black flag on a stick. This was to form part of the huge German flag that the crowd constructed before the game. It was all quite apt considering today is the day we became eligible for German citizenship, what with us passing the five-year mark. The national anthems were dealt well, although I can't stop thinking of 'Home of the Whopper' from Family Guy instead of 'Home of the Brave'. Then the game was due to begin. The shooting of fireworks over the stadium at the conclusion of each anthem (one American, one German) was a nice touch.
I've only ever seen NFL football on television, so the ad breaks are included. When you are watching it in a stadium, you get a greater sense of the tactics of the game, but also how much time it takes. There is so much filler, including the Flex Cam, Kiss Cam and Beard Cam, that you forget the game is four quarters of 15 minutes. Then there's all the sponsorship opportunities - the find the hidden ball game with FedEx, the Chio Tortilla Cannon, the Visa Sing-a-long where you had to vote for a song for the crowd to sing along to and worst of all, the 'Two Minute Warning' sponsored by Coca-Cola - as well as with the analysis 'On the Pitch' with Abercrombie and Fitch even though the analysis was clearly taking place next to it. Indeed, our game stretched to three hours, and it went to overtime after that. The match action itself was scintillating though, with end-to-end high scoring play. The Colts were on 7-2 going into this game and were favourites against a Falcons side on 3-5. However, Atlanta gave it a good go and after a high-scoring first quarter, started to gain the ascendancy. Indeed, the Colts were reeling until the fourth quarter where an 83-yard rushing touchdown from Jonathan Taylor changed the flow of the game. Despite this, the Colts still needed a late field goal to tie the scores. In overtime, it was Taylor again who scored his third touchdown of the game to win it 31-25. As the game progressed, the colder it got, but I was still enamored with the excitement of the match. I also got more enamored with Blue, the Colts mascot, whose hi-jinks were entertaining. At one point, he got into a fight with the cheerleaders. The players certainly respected him, while I have spent much of the evening glued to the Blue Colts Mascot channel on YouTube where he's been causing mayhem around Berlin. The Blue Hotrod car, which I saw at the Fan Zone, was a gift to him and he drove it around the city.
Going into this game, I wasn't really bothered about who would win, but I found myself rooting for the Colts more and more. This was partly because of the passionate lady to my right, who was a huge Colts fan. This made the last few minutes of the fourth quarter particularly torturous. I can certainly see the appeal of the game as it's very back and forth. The guy in front of me kept standing up, which was annoying, but all-in-all it was a very fun day. Getting out after this proved to be tricky though and the S-Bahn station was heaving upon arrival. Still, we managed to squeeze ourselves onto a Spandau-bound train and even stopped off at Cappuccino for a pizza as a nice way to round off the day. The tickets were expensive, but ultimately worth it, and I hope the NFL comes back to Berlin next season. There is talk of upping the number of international games from seven to nine to try and grow the sport worldwide so we'll see. I also hope that the Colts make Berlin their second home, like the Jets have in London. It would be nice to have an NFL franchise here.
It was effectively an Indianapolis Colts home game, and the Colts were stationed across the city for most of the week. I headed down to Das Center on Saturday evening to soak up the Fan Zone. This was huge and buzzing, the glass domed area highlighting the noise from the stage. I only caught the final half hour of it - and even then I had to queue to be let in, such were the numbers - but it was all rather joyous. There was a wide receiver catching simulator, a throwing simulator and a load of helmets. On the stage, we saw cheerleaders and other bits, as well as Blue the attractive Colts mascot doing his dancing. He was rated NFL mascot of the year four times and the highlight of the match today was when he threw pies in the faces of two Atlanta Falcons fans. All the usual songs were played including Sweet Caroline and Scooter, who I didn't realise was German. Getting a beer in the Fan Zone proved to be impossible and after hanging around the stage waiting for Blue, I headed off shortly after 10pm. I did drop into BRLO, who were having a Seattle Seahawks event for some reason, but it was all rather obnoxious and noisy, while being on my own wasn't too appealing. I was also tired after yesterday's Fursuit Walk too.
The game itself today was fun, although Wolfie's leg really impaired his mobility. We got to our seats half an hour before the game began and noticed we had been given a black flag on a stick. This was to form part of the huge German flag that the crowd constructed before the game. It was all quite apt considering today is the day we became eligible for German citizenship, what with us passing the five-year mark. The national anthems were dealt well, although I can't stop thinking of 'Home of the Whopper' from Family Guy instead of 'Home of the Brave'. Then the game was due to begin. The shooting of fireworks over the stadium at the conclusion of each anthem (one American, one German) was a nice touch.
I've only ever seen NFL football on television, so the ad breaks are included. When you are watching it in a stadium, you get a greater sense of the tactics of the game, but also how much time it takes. There is so much filler, including the Flex Cam, Kiss Cam and Beard Cam, that you forget the game is four quarters of 15 minutes. Then there's all the sponsorship opportunities - the find the hidden ball game with FedEx, the Chio Tortilla Cannon, the Visa Sing-a-long where you had to vote for a song for the crowd to sing along to and worst of all, the 'Two Minute Warning' sponsored by Coca-Cola - as well as with the analysis 'On the Pitch' with Abercrombie and Fitch even though the analysis was clearly taking place next to it. Indeed, our game stretched to three hours, and it went to overtime after that. The match action itself was scintillating though, with end-to-end high scoring play. The Colts were on 7-2 going into this game and were favourites against a Falcons side on 3-5. However, Atlanta gave it a good go and after a high-scoring first quarter, started to gain the ascendancy. Indeed, the Colts were reeling until the fourth quarter where an 83-yard rushing touchdown from Jonathan Taylor changed the flow of the game. Despite this, the Colts still needed a late field goal to tie the scores. In overtime, it was Taylor again who scored his third touchdown of the game to win it 31-25. As the game progressed, the colder it got, but I was still enamored with the excitement of the match. I also got more enamored with Blue, the Colts mascot, whose hi-jinks were entertaining. At one point, he got into a fight with the cheerleaders. The players certainly respected him, while I have spent much of the evening glued to the Blue Colts Mascot channel on YouTube where he's been causing mayhem around Berlin. The Blue Hotrod car, which I saw at the Fan Zone, was a gift to him and he drove it around the city.
Going into this game, I wasn't really bothered about who would win, but I found myself rooting for the Colts more and more. This was partly because of the passionate lady to my right, who was a huge Colts fan. This made the last few minutes of the fourth quarter particularly torturous. I can certainly see the appeal of the game as it's very back and forth. The guy in front of me kept standing up, which was annoying, but all-in-all it was a very fun day. Getting out after this proved to be tricky though and the S-Bahn station was heaving upon arrival. Still, we managed to squeeze ourselves onto a Spandau-bound train and even stopped off at Cappuccino for a pizza as a nice way to round off the day. The tickets were expensive, but ultimately worth it, and I hope the NFL comes back to Berlin next season. There is talk of upping the number of international games from seven to nine to try and grow the sport worldwide so we'll see. I also hope that the Colts make Berlin their second home, like the Jets have in London. It would be nice to have an NFL franchise here.
