Football fans in Germany who couldn’t get tickets for the two NFL games in Frankfurt have a new viewing option: their local movie theater.
The theater chain CinemaxX in partnership with DAZN said Friday it will screen the games at 18 of its locations around Germany.
The Kansas City Chiefs face the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 5 at Deutsche Bank Park and the New England Patriots play the Indianapolis Colts there a week later. Tickets to the games sold out in minutes.
“The interest in experiencing the games live with other fans is accordingly high,” DAZN said in a statement. “Fans can watch the two Frankfurt games on big screens with popcorn, nachos and cool drinks.”
DAZN Group signed a 10-year agreement with the NFL to deliver the Game Pass International service to fans outside the United States beginning this season. DAZN has aired games in Germany since 2016.
Germany has become the NFL’s largest market in Europe and the league staged its first-ever regular-season game in the country last year when Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 21-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Allianz Arena in Munich.
The league estimates that it has 18 million fans in Germany, 3.6 million of which are “avid” fans, Alexander Steinforth, the NFL’s general manager for Germany, told The Associated Press.
“The excitement for the NFL coming over has been so massive that I think no matter which of the 32 teams that you would have put out on the field would have resulted in massive interest and a very quick sell out,” Steinforth said.
Interest in last year’s game also prompted alternative viewing options. Fans packed the Audi Dome basketball arena in Munich to watch, and Deutsche Bank Park showed the game on a big screen.
Hamburg-based CinemaxX did not respond to a request for the capacity of the 18 theaters that will show the games. Tickets start at 7.99 euros ($8.50).
In the United States, Atlantic Coast Conference college football fans can watch telecasts of their team’s road games in local movie theaters under an agreement between cable network ESPN and Theater Sports Network.
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