I am a massive fan of German music so I am immersed in the language a fair bit. As you say though, familiarity is the best course of action. I have listened to German sports broadcasts in the past and it went quite well, I should probably take that up again.

The thing is it's easier for foreigners to learn English than vice versa as you get all the American and British music, films and TV. These are often subtitled so you can immerse yourself with English pretty easily (and indeed it's hard to avoid in most European countries). Here, all we get to hear is English. It's annoying.