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42-937: The regular season started on 16 April and finished on 10 September 2016, followed by the play-offs. The season culminated in the German Bowl XXXVIII, held on 8 October 2016 in Berlin. The championship was won by the New Yorker Lions who defeated the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 31–20 in a repeat of the 2014 and 2015 finals, which the Lions had also won. During the regular season each club plays all other clubs in its division twice, home and away, resulting in each team playing 14 regular season games. There are no games between clubs from opposite divisions, interconference games having been abolished after

84-453: A December 1987's evening to found the team. They were Pere Moliner, first president of the team, Ramón Ventura and Italian Alfonso Genchi. The team was founded as Badalona Drags . Just a few months later, the team was established and the first ever American football game played in Spain was set for March 19th, 1988. Badalona Dracs played Palermo Cardinals ( Italy ), with a score of 18–12 for

126-734: A fifth final in a row in 2004, when the Berlin Adler won their first title in 13 years. After that, the Braunschweig Lions set a new record, winning four German Bowls in a row, beating four different teams in the finals. In 2005, the Blue Devils were once more the opposition, followed by two southern teams, the Marburg Mercenaries in 2006 and the Stuttgart Scorpions in 2007. The seventh title for

168-589: A late fumble, the only turnover of the game, while driving towards good field position for a field goal. The Lions won their ninth German Bowl in 2014 with the highest-ever winning margin, defeating the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 47–9. Schwäbisch Hall scored no points in this game after a field goal on their first possession until the fourth quarter when most of the Braunschweig starters, including MVP quarterback Casey Therriault, were already off

210-604: A low scoring game. 2016 marks the third time in a row that Dresden plays Schwäbisch Hall on the road in the semifinals. In both 2015 and 2014 Hall ultimately prevailed and went on to lose the German Bowl to Braunschweig. The same occurred in this season as well. With both the Unicorns and the Lions winning their home semifinals, and the Lions ultimately defeating the Unicorns in German Bowl XXXVIII. After missing

252-596: A quarter-final round as well. The 1982 season saw Ansbach repeat its title, this time against the Cologne Crocodiles . After that, the era of the Düsseldorf Panther versus Ansbach Grizzlies rivalry began, with the two teams meeting in the next four finals. Of those, the team from Düsseldorf won the 1983, 1984 and 1986 editions, while the Grizzlies earned their third championship in 1985. With

294-515: A system still in place as of 2010. The Panther earned their fourth title in 1992, defeating the Munich Cowboys, which, in the following year, won the championship themselves, against Cologne Crocodiles, who suffered their fourth defeat in their fourth German Bowl. Munich's title in 1993 was to be the last occasion for the next twelve years that a team from the South would reach the final, and

336-740: The Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (53–0) thus qualifying for Eurobowl XXX and the newly promoted Frankfurt Universe that won their first ever official European match on the road against the Thonon Black Panthers (0–48). While the Dresden Monarchs managed to get some redemption by convincingly winning their home opener against the Berlin Adler (71–20) in front of over 6000 spectators, the Berlin Rebels continued to raise expectations by narrowly beating

378-467: The Berlin Adler both have six titles to their name, but Berlin has the best win–loss record of all clubs, 75 percent. Altogether, as of 2021, twelve clubs have won a German Bowl, while a further four clubs have reached the German Bowl once but lost their sole appearance ( Stuttgart Scorpions , Badener Greifs , Marburg Mercenaries and Frankfurt Universe ). The most-played match up in the history of

420-402: The Berlin Adler won their first of what would be six national championships by 2010. In 1988, Red Barons Cologne defeated the Düsseldorf Panther in the final, while, from 1989 onwards, the Berlin Adler became the first team to win three championships in a row, all against teams from Cologne . After the 1990 season, the play-offs were reduced to eight teams again, dropping the wild-card round,

462-657: The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns defeated Kiel 48–44 to carry off the national championship for the first time. The Unicorns repeated their 2011 title in 2012 in the highest-scoring German Bowl to date winning 56–53 on a late field goal, while the 2013 title went to a resurgent and renamed Braunschweig, now playing as the New Yorker Lions in a close 35–34 victory against the Dresden Monarchs in their first German Bowl appearance. Dresden missed an extra-point attempt after their first touchdown and went on to lose on

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504-536: The 1986 final, the golden age of the Ansbach Grizzlies ended and the club disappeared from the top level altogether by 1991. From 1986, a wild-card round was introduced as well, taking the number of teams in the play-offs to twelve. The 1987 German Bowl saw two completely new teams compete against each other, the Badener Greifs making their only appearance in the championship game to date, while

546-467: The 2011 season when the GFL was expanded from 14 to 16 teams. The best four teams in each division qualify for the play-offs where, in the quarter-finals, teams from opposite divisions play each other, whereby the better placed teams have home field advantage. The first placed team plays the fourth placed from the other division and the second placed the third placed team. From the semi-finals onwards teams from

588-535: The 2013 edition where they were upset by the Berlin Adler in the quarterfinal of the playoffs. As the 2018 German Bowl was an all Southern affair, balancing out the all Northern German Bowl 2013, the divisions have achieved parity in representation at the final for the period beginning in 2011. However, in terms of wins the North still has the edge even for the 2011-2019 period as Schwäbisch Hall won it all four times in that decade whereas Braunschweig's New Yorker Lions won

630-594: The 2015 season, two new clubs will compete in the GFL in 2016. The Hildesheim Invaders filled the vacant spot in the northern division while the Frankfurt Universe replaced the Franken Knights in the south. For Hildesheim it marked a return to the league after 25 years, having spent two seasons in the Bundesliga in 1990 and 1991 while Frankfurt won promotion to the GFL for the first time. In

672-546: The 3rd). The first round of the Playoffs saw the home teams prevail in three out of the four games, with Dresden and Braunschweig in especially dominant fashion. For Schwäbisch Hall a good first half was sufficient to outlast the attempts by the Rebels to reverse their fortunes in the second half. Frankfurt lost its first playoff game in team history to the surprise of some in a heavy rain to Kiel who ultimately prevailed 10:03 in

714-772: The Baltic, jumping up to a 21–0 lead in the first quarter and putting the game out of reach by halftime (35–0) keeping Kiel off the scoreboard until the second half before finally prevailing 56–14. In the South Munich fell to the Allgäu Comets once more losing 42–10 on the road. While Schwäbisch Hall prevailed 37–14 at home over the Saarland Hurricanes reducing the number of undefeated teams in the South to two. Frankfurt meanwhile had no problem dispatching of their European adversary Badalona Dracs (49–7) and thus

756-585: The Berlin Rebels 21–21. The German teams that had qualified for European competitions ( BIG 6 and EFL Bowl) meanwhile fared a lot worse than in previous years. While both competitions had been dominated by German teams and both finals had been played between two German teams, this year Kiel lost their opening match in the EFL Bowl at home against the Amsterdam Crusaders 24–31 in Overtime, setting

798-589: The Bowl five times in the same period. The German Bowls since 1979: Champions in bold * indicates overtime wins The host cities of the German Bowl were: Badalona Dracs The Badalona Dracs ( Catalan pronunciation: [bəðəˈlonə ˈðɾaks] , "Badalona Dragons") are a gridiron football team based in Badalona , Catalonia . Three American football enthusiasts got together in Badalona on

840-431: The Bowl, while northern clubs have appeared 58 times. After the first three German Bowls, the final was only contested by two southern clubs one other time; in the 2018 edition when another Frankfurt based team - Frankfurt Universe - did what had only been achieved before by the long since defunct Frankfurter Löwen - reaching a German Bowl against another GFL South representative - The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns . Between

882-538: The Italians. Later on, the first organized league in Spain was created with the Dracs joining three other teams, L'Hospitalet Pioners , Barcelona Búfals and the defunct Barcelona Boxers. Badalona Dracs won the competition. It was just the first of many championships. After the 2004 season the team changed names to Badalona Dracs . The Dracs won the last four Spanish titles. With a total of ten LNFA titles they have

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924-743: The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 19–17 at home. The Adler meanwhile went on the road against the Hamburg Huskies beating them 17–14 to the surprise of many observers, who had seen the Adler as without a chance given their performance in Dresden. This also showed that the defeats in the EFL were not a fluke for Hamburg and Kiel. In the South the Allgäu Comets managed to reduce the costly errors late in the game that had cost them many narrow games in

966-588: The Lions came in 2008, against the new force of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . Kiel also played in the 2009 final, losing to the Berlin Adler, before finally being successful in 2010 and securing their first title against the same team. German Bowl XXXIII was held on 8 October 2011 at the MDCC-Arena in Magdeburg . The 2011 season saw the end of an 18-year title drought for the south, when

1008-711: The Panthers in the final. The most dominant era of any team in the sport in Germany begun in 1997, when the Braunschweig Lions reached and won the German Bowl for the first time. The Lions would play in every one of the next twelve German Bowls until 2008, and win seven of those. Their first title, in 1997, was won against the Cologne Crocodiles, who now had the unenviable record of five losses in five German Bowl appearances. The following six seasons,

1050-477: The end of the golden era of the Ansbach Grizzlies in 1986 and the rise of the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (who first reached the German Bowl in 2011), southern clubs have only made five appearances in the championship game of which only one was successful (the Munich Cowboys in 1993). After first reaching the German Bowl in 2011, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns made all (as of 2021) subsequent German Bowls except

1092-459: The field. The Lions repeated their 2014 success against the Unicorns in 2015, winning 41–31. Success in American football in Germany and at the German Bowl differs hugely between the clubs from the northern and the southern division, with the south only winning ten German Bowls and the north the remaining 32 (through XLII). Similarly (through XLII), southern clubs have only made 26 appearances in

1134-486: The final was contested by the Lions and the Blue Devils on five occasions, with the Lions winning in 1998 and 1999, while the Blue Devils won in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Only in 2000 did neither of those two win the Bowl. Instead, the Cologne Crocodiles finally reversed their fortunes and won a championship in their sixth attempt. In between, in 1999, the Bundesliga was renamed to German Football League. Braunschweig lost

1176-496: The first two and Ansbach the last. The era of the Frankfurter Löwen came to an end soon afterwards and the club went defunct in the mid-1980s, while the Ansbach Grizzlies continued to be an outstanding team, playing in all of the first eight German Bowls. Unlike the first season, play-off semi-finals were played in 1980 and 1981 to determine the two German Bowl contestants. From 1982, the play-offs were enlarged to include

1218-523: The game is the Braunschweig Lions versus the Hamburg Blue Devils , having been played six times, last in 2005. The matchup between the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns and the New Yorker Lions has occurred five times - all in the span from 2014 to 2019. German Bowl XIX to German Bowl XXX (inclusive) all had appearances by the Braunschweig Lions (later to be renamed for sponsorship reasons to "New Yorker Lions") for twelve consecutive appearances over

1260-408: The last time until 2011 that a team from the South would win the championship. The Bundesliga and the German Bowl were from then on dominated by the North. In 1994 and 1995, the Düsseldorf Panther once more won the German Bowl, with the second title won against a new force in the game in Germany, the Hamburg Blue Devils . In 1996, the Blue Devils then reversed their previous misfortune and defeated

1302-495: The previous season to beat Stuttgart 30–24 at home after a 29–62 road win against Munich in which Grant Isdale made five Touchdowns in a single half. The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns returned from their lopsided loss to Tirol to beat the Marburg Mercenaries 56–25. Hildesheim won their first game after being promoted against Düsseldorf (51–20) but lost the next game in Braunschweig in a lopsided 52–7. Whereas Dresden went on

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1344-491: The road 31–20. The league tables of the two GFL divisions: The league tables of the two GFL 2 divisions: The quarter-finals of the 2016 play-offs were played on 17 and 18 September. The German Bowl was held on 8 October at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. Home field advantage is granted to the better placed team during the regular season (e.g. 2nd has home field advantage against

1386-557: The road to Kempten beating the Allgäu Comets 10–0 in a defense heavy game with heavy rain affecting the play of both teams. The only Touchdown in the Frankfurt Kempten game came of a special teams play. Hall beat the Mercenaries on the road (49–20) thus staying the only team in the south to have a perfect winning percentage in league games. The Huskies meanwhile finally got their first win of the season beating Düsseldorf on

1428-421: The road to Kiel to get their first defeat of the season (35–30). The game was decided late when Dresden failed to convert four times on their last drive. Stuttgart lost at home to Frankfurt (43–49) in an offensive slugfest with defensive errors on both sides giving Universe their first ever GFL win. The rematch of Kiel-Dresden took place in Dresden and as many times before Dresden delivered revenge on their foes from

1470-481: The same division can meet again. The eighth placed team in each division entered a two-leg play-off with the winner of the respective division of the German Football League 2 , the second tier of the league system in Germany. The winners of this contest qualified for the GFL for the following season. In case of a GFL division consisting of less than eight clubs no play-off is necessary. Compared to

1512-543: The season opener, Frankfurt which had raised expectations through high caliber names on the roster and a perfect season in the GFL2 in 2015 played against Southern Powerhouse Schwäbisch Hall, which had just gotten a lot of attention due to Moritz Böhringer playing for them before entering the NFL draft. In a hard fought match with errors on both sides, Schwäbisch Hall, led by Quarterback Marco Ehrenfried ultimately prevailed 26–21. This

1554-461: The second German team advanced to a European Final - after four German teams had stood in the two European finals the previous season. After their convincing home win against Kiel, the Dresden Monarchs had to go on the road to top rival Braunschweig and despite bringing them closer to defeat than any other team in that season thus far, they ultimately lost 33–26, despite leading by a point at the half. Frankfurt meanwhile showed their potential by going on

1596-600: The semifinal in 2017, Dresden would again lose their semifinals in Schwäbisch Hall in 2018 and 2019 . German Bowl The German Bowl is the annual national championship game in the sport of American football in Germany . It is contested by the two best teams of the German Football League . The New Yorker Lions , from Braunschweig , are the record winners of the German Bowl, with 12 successful participations out of 18 overall. The Düsseldorf Panther and

1638-644: The space of over a decade. Apart from the German Bowl, a Junior Bowl has also been contested in Germany since 1982. A Ladies Bowl was introduced in 1990. Other, related, national championship games in Germany include the German Flag Bowl (est. 2000), German Junior Flag Bowl (1999) and a German Indoor Flag Bowl (2000). In 1979, the American Football Bundesliga , later to be renamed the German Football League,

1680-601: The tone for the ensuing games, which would result in a Hamburg loss to Amsterdam on the road (64–19), a Schwäbisch Hall loss to the Swarco Raiders Tirol on the road in the Big 6 (34–0) and losses for the Berlin Adler in all their games. The only German teams showing anything approaching the previous dominance were the New Yorker Lions, that won on the road against the Vienna Vikings (14–21) and at home against

1722-488: Was also the last GFL game receiver Patrick Donahue played for Schwäbisch Hall before being invited to rookie minicamp by the Green Bay Packers . In the first game in the North, defending champion Brunswick easily prevailed over the Hamburg Huskies 44–3. The Dresden Monarchs, which had been a perpetual playoff contender in previous years but lost many players after the 2015 season drew their first away game against

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1764-484: Was formed, consisting of six clubs, the Frankfurter Löwen, Ansbach Grizzlies , Düsseldorf Panther , Munich Cowboys , Berlin Bears and Bremerhaven Seahawks . Of those six, the top two teams would contest the first ever German Bowl on 10 November 1979. The early years of the league were dominated by two teams, Frankfurt and Ansbach, who met each other in the first three editions of the German Bowl. Of those, Frankfurt won

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