Banging start into ELF season 2025: Defending champion Rhein Fire will face semifinalist Paris Musketeers on May 17th
The schedule is set, the anticipation is growing! 148 days before the kick-off of the 2025 season, European League of Football officials have announced the fixtures for the 16 teams in four divisions on the road to the Championship Game on September 7th at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart.
Defending champion Rhein Fire is opening the new season on May 17th against semifinalist Paris Musketeers. Madrid Bravos play against Hamburg Sea Devils and Panthers Wroclaw against Fehérvár Enthroners (kickoff times follow). On May 18th, the program contains the duels between Berlin Thunder and Cologne Centurions, Stuttgart Surge and Frankfurt Galaxy, Munich Ravens and Raiders Tirol as well as Prague Lions and Vienna Vikings. Helvetic Mercenaries will face newcomer Nordic Storm in their debut game.
The rematch of Championship Game 2024 will already happen in Week 3: Rhein Fire will face Vienna Vikings on June 1st. Week 12 will be a bye week for all teams.
"We can't wait for the fifth ELF season to begin"
"We are entering the fifth season and expect further substantial growth in the league, with all parameters already pointing to this. There will be even more big games in big stadiums and it will all come to a climax with the Championship Game taking place in the 60,000-capacity MHP Arena in Stuttgart. The release of the schedule further heats up the anticipation, and we can't wait for the fifth ELF season to begin", says Managing Director Zeljko Karajica.
Patrick Esume, Commissioner of the European League of Football, is also eagerly awaiting the start: "I'm incredibly curious about next season. There are some franchises where you can already see that they will have strong rosters. And then there's Nordic Storm, a very ambitious newcomer, that will try to shake up the establishment. It will be an exciting season 2025, more than ever before."
Debut season for Nordic Storm
With Frankfurt Galaxy, the Hamburg Sea Devils, Berlin Thunder, the Cologne Centurions and Stuttgart Surge from Germany and the Panthers Wrocław (Poland) six founding members of the European League of Football are already entering their fifth season.
With defending champions Rhein Fire (Germany), the Vienna Vikings and the Raiders Tirol from Austria, three franchises are entering their fourth season, while it is the third year for the Paris Musketeers (France), the Helvetic Mercenaries (Switzerland), the Fehérvár Enthroners (Hungary), the Prague Lions (Czech Republic) and the Munich Ravens (Germany). The Madrid Bravos (Spain) are entering their second season, while Nordic Storm celebrates its debut in the European League of Football. They all have one big goal: the Championship Game on September 7th in Stuttgart.