With the Super Bowl sweeping into New Orleans this week, the Bundesliga joined the party with the Meisterschale on display and legend Claudio Pizarro doing the rounds before the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bundesliga and NFL have been forging a closer relationship in recent years, with regular-season NFL matches now being played in Germany every year. Starting with Munich’s Allianz Arena and then Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park, a third city will join the circuit for 2025 as Berlin’s Olympiastadion prepares to host the Indianapolis Colts.

“Germany has a rich tradition of American football, and the NFL has a deep history with the city of Berlin,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We first held a preseason game at the Olympic Stadium 34 years ago, before it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in the early 2000s.”

“Now, with almost 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we’ll make a historic return to the city playing a regular-season game for the first time as we open the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”

Watch: Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs tries to guess Bundesliga clubs from their badges.

In addition to Bundesliga stadiums hosting regular-season matches, the partnership agreement between the NFL and the DFL is helping to increase communication and collaboration in the areas of production, broadcast and programming, digital innovation and marketing.

In 2018, the DFL opened its New York office, which covers the North and South American region and serves as a point of contact for media and marketing partners, as well as aiding clubs with local market initiatives. The partnership with the NFL marks another step in the DFL’s dynamic internationalisation strategy and supports the approach to grow the Bundesliga’s popularity globally, ensuring that even more fans around the world can experience the best of German football.

Watch: Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning gives a shout-out for Bayern Munich fans.

Meanwhile, Bayern have developed close ties with various NFL clubs. As well as hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks in 2022, the record Bundesliga champions have trained with the Chiefs during past tours to the USA. The reigning Super Bowl champions got a chance to see what Germany is like when they travelled to Frankfurt in November 2023.

Watch: Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert attempts keepy-uppies and declares himself a Frankfurt fan.

As the Chiefs target a three-peat at Super Bowl LIX, there was additional silverware on show with the arrival of the Bundesliga’s Meisterschale, currently held by Bayer Leverkusen.

An equally priceless Bundesliga treasure was also on display in the legendary Pizarro as the former striker promoted German football, talked about his interest in American football, his love for the Seahawks, his admiration for Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley, and also his prediction for Sunday’s main event.