American Football League Europe

Last updated
American Football League Europe
Upcoming season or competition:
AmericanFootball current event.svg 2026 The League Europe season
American Football League Europe Logo.svg
Sport American football
Founded2 December 2025;
3 months ago (2025-12-02)
First season 2026
OwnerAmerican Football League Europe LLC
No. of teams8
CountriesGermany
Austria
Switzerland
France
Poland
Italy
United Kingdom
Monaco (2027)
Headquarters Hamburg, Germany [1]
Continent Europe
Official website www.aflepro.com

The American Football League Europe, abbreviated as AFLE and also referred to as The League: Europe, is a professional American football league in Europe. Founded in December 2025, it will begin competition in spring 2026.

Contents

Background

After the 2025 season, numerous teams left the European League of Football (ELF), which had existed since 2020. The ELF's leadership was criticized for a lack of transparency, and teams complained that they were not receiving revenue shares from the league. The teams that formed the European Football Alliance were unable to agree among themselves on a league structure. Some teams favored a team-led league and ultimately agreed with the ELF on a new structure. However, others preferred creating a new league with the support of an external investor. This new league was publicly presented on December 2, 2025, as AFLE – The League: Europe. [2]

The American Football League Europe LLC is headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, United States. It is owned by a U.S.-based family office. [3] The families behind it are not publicly known. AFLE has league offices in Hamburg, Germany, and Vienna, Austria. AFLE Betriebs GmbH, based in Hamburg, is 100% owned by Venture FOMO GmbH, based in Vienna, which is itself 100% owned by Robin Lumsden, the majority shareholder of the Vienna Vikings.

On December 6, 2025, the two-time ELF champion Rhein Fire became the first team to announce its participation in the league. [4]

Teams

American Football League Europe (Europe)
Locations of teams competing in the 2026 The League Europe season.

As of February 18, 2026, the league has confirmed seven teams: in addition to Rhein Fire, Berlin Thunder [5] , Panthers Wrocław [6] , and the Vienna Vikings [7] from the ELF. Newly founded teams have also been added, namely the Alpine Rams [8] , the Paris Lights [9] [10] , the Firenze Red Lions [11] [12] and the London Football Team [13] . The league has further announced additional team for 2027 from Monaco [14] .

TeamsLocationStadiumCapacityHead Coach2025
Berlin Thunder Flag of Germany.svg Berlin Flag of the United States.svg Shawn Cooper ELF, 3–9
Panthers Wrocław Flag of Poland.svg Wrocław Olympic Stadium 11,000 Flag of the United States.svg Dave Likins ELF, 5–7
Rhein Fire Flag of Germany.svg Düsseldorf/Duisburg Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg 31,500 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Ridgley ELF, 8–4, Wild Card game
Alpine Rams Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Biel/Bienne Tissot Arena 5,200 Flag of the United States.svg Joshua Fitzgerald new
Vienna Vikings Flag of Austria.svg Vienna Flag of the United States.svg Chris Calaycay ELF, 11–1, lost Championship Game
Paris Lights Flag of France.svg Paris Flag of the United States.svg David Shelton new
Firenze Red Lions Flag of Italy.svg Florence Flag of the United States.svg Bart Andrus new
London Football Team Flag of the United Kingdom.svg London new

References

  1. ↑ https://www.aflepro.com/about
  2. ↑ Walter Reiterer (2025-12-02). "AFLE präsentiert neues europäisches Football-Projekt: "The League Europe" soll Stabilität bringen". Österreichs Football Portal (in German). Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  3. ↑ Hendrik Müller (2025-12-02). "Neue europäische Liga – AFLE präsentiert Vision". Foot Bowl (in German). Retrieved 2025-12-14.
  4. ↑ "AFLE: Rhein Fire als erstes Team bestätigt" (in German). 2025-12-06. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  5. ↑ "ELF und AFLE verkünden weitere Teams für 2026" (in German). Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  6. ↑ Hendrik (2025-12-09). "Panthers Wrocław schließen sich The League Europe an". Foot Bowl (in German). Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  7. ↑ "Vikings-Footballer greifen 2026 in dieser Liga an". January 2026.
  8. ↑ "Alpine Rams offiziell Teil der AFLE". 17 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Instagram".
  10. ↑ https://touchdownactu.com/349641/lafle-a-son-equipe-parisienne-les-paris-lights/
  11. ↑ https://www.aflepro.com/news/the-afle-announces-italian-football-team-to-join-the-league-in-2026
  12. ↑ https://www.aflepro.com/news/firenze-red-lions-unveiled-as-italys-afle-franchise
  13. ↑ https://www.aflepro.com/news/the-afle-announces-london-football-team-for-the-2026-season
  14. ↑ https://www.aflepro.com/news/the-afle-confirms-final-franchise-lineup-for-inaugural-season
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