From Soccer to Gridiron: Exploring Brand Communication and the Rise of National Football League Fandom in Germany

As American football continues to expand globally, the National Football League (NFL) has found remarkable success in Germany, a country with deeply rooted soccer traditions. This study investigates how German fans form team identification in a transnational context. Grounded in the Psychological Continuum Model, the Fan Attitude Network model, and the Sport Team Identification Model, the study analyzes interest, team identity, and brand attitude among 349 German NFL fans through a quantitative online survey. Findings reveal that, although interest in American football correlates strongly with interest in the NFL, team identity is the stronger predictor of purchasing behavior. In addition, team characteristics and popularity outweigh traditional socialization in explaining fans’ identification with specific NFL teams. To explore motivations behind NFL fandom among Germans, a thematic analysis of open-ended responses revealed six key motivators: (1) first exposure, (2) player attachment, (3) media/pop culture, (4) city/personal connection, (5) team culture/underdog, and (6) visual identity. This study offers theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding of transnational fandom in regions where cultural pathways to fandom differ from domestic contexts.