The crazy logistics of hosting an NFL game in Germany, and the Panthers’ big opportunity
It’s the Tuesday before the Carolina Panthers head to Munich, Germany — the site of the first international home game in franchise history — and Mike Anderson is being asked about his incredibly long checklist.
Everyone all set with their passports?
Check.
Special equipment all packed up?
Check.
Oh, and do you know the status of the Keep Pounding drum?
Anderson is the Panthers’ director of football operations. That also means that for this week — for the past several months, really — he’s been the supervisor of the logistical madness that accompanies the task of playing a home game 4,500 miles and an Atlantic Ocean away from Bank of America Stadium. Everything that will be needed leading up to and on gameday has at least flashed by his desk.
So, to answer the question:
Yes, he knows the status of the drum.
“We had a shipment that had to go via ocean (liner) back in July,” Anderson said, assuring that one of the most notable traditions Panthers fans have will be intact in Europe. “That was one of the items that we sent over in advance.”
The Carolina Panthers are days away from hosting the New York Giants at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, home of FC Bayern Munich. The game is slated to kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday. And while the contest won’t mark the first time the franchise has played a game overseas — the Panthers played in London in 2019 — it’ll be the franchise’s first time hosting a game, which comes with a bundle of other considerations and opportunity.
Anderson, specifically, handles the football side of things. And his responsibilities truly started in January, when the team initially found out it would have an international game in 2024.
Anderson said his department’s first set of responsibilities involved hopping on calls with the NFL to “lay the groundwork for what this trip would look like for us.” His team then had several “advance trips” that sent individuals from different departments to identify hotels, to find a good practice site, to meet with airport officials, to meet with stadium officials — “just to really get a feel for what we were coming into.”
His department was also in charge of determining equipment needs, nutritional needs, training needs — taking stock of any items the team required that couldn’t be sourced in Germany and thus needed to be brought along. It also included ensuring that every coach and player had a passport valid through November, which was mostly handled during the team’s offseason program.
But beyond the added challenges of having to cross into a border, from a logistical perspective, it’s similar to carrying everything on a long flight.
“We’re trying to do our best to keep things as similar to any other game as possible,” Anderson said. “There’s obviously the extra layers that come with it, from having to complete a Carnet manifest (an international customs and temporary export-import document), and making sure everyone’s got a passport in order to get everyone over to Munich.
“But at the end of the day, it’s still us traveling for a game. And a lot of the things are very similar.”
The marketing project — and opportunity — the Panthers see
If the football logistical side is about maintaining the norm, the marketing arm of the Panthers this coming weekend is about capitalizing on opportunity.
And the game poses a big one, leaders say.
To understand the Panthers’ opportunity to grow their brand on Sunday, consider what Germany offers. In mid-2021, the Panthers did some research prior to acquiring marketing rights to the European nation. The organization found a bunch of ties to the Carolinas and to the NFL.
For one, there are over 200 German businesses with local ties to the Carolinas. That included Daimler Truck, a Panthers’ sponsor, as well as BMW, which houses its largest manufacturing plant in Greer, S.C.
For another, two airlines have direct flights to Munich and Frankfurt every day from Charlotte. For more, Germany housed “basically 1 million undecided fans” of the NFL without a team they regularly root for — and it’s the No. 1 market for retail in the NFL outside of North America, surpassing the UK a few years ago.
“The fandom there is unbelievable,” said Dan O’Niell, the Panthers’ vice president for partnerships. “So when you see that, you just say, ‘This is right for marketing, for digital, for building our brand. But also: How do we commercialize that?’”
The Panthers have done a lot in the intervening three years to grow the brand. That has included announcing a draft pick in Germany each of the last three years. That has included hosting youth football camps to bring awareness about the game. But from a commercialization standpoint, per O’Neill: “Having the game is really important” — from building and maintaining corporate relationships, to connecting to fans thousands of miles away from Charlotte.
“We don’t have two preseason and eight regular-season games in Germany,” O’Neill said. “We’re continuing to rapidly grow our digital and social platform, and I think if you look around the league, it’s been crawl, walk, run from a revenue perspective.
“Even the Chiefs, (back-to-back) Super Bowl champions, they’re looking at this as a long-term marketing expense to grow the brand: ‘How can we build a three-, five-, seven-year plan to monetize that?’ And that’s kind of how we’ve approached that as well.”
Making the game a spectacle for new fans
The game represents a huge opportunity, as O’Neill said. That means everything surrounding the game — the rest of the gameday experience — is important, too.
The Panthers’ marketing branch has a lot planned the weekend leading up to Sunday’s game. And it’s a unique experience — as one might imagine since it’s so far away from home.
“Our marketing parameters are North and South Carolina (in the U.S.),” said Kalen Karahalios, the Panthers’ director of marketing. “So when we play an away game, it’s not like we can throw up a whole bunch of billboards and throw some parties at each away game. Whereas with this, we’re the home team, so we really kind of own the game and all the things around it.”
“Owning the game” entails a lot. Among the many things the event planners will do includes taking over the Augustiner Stammhaus as the “Carolina Panthers’ team pub” on Friday and Saturday. It’ll serve as the “central meeting point” for Panthers fans, and team officials expect about 30,000 people to come through there over the course of the weekend.
David and Nicole Tepper might make a visit there at some point, the team said. Former Panthers players certainly will, including Luke Kuechly, Julius Peppers, Thomas Davis, Steve Smith and others.
One eyebrow raising stat, courtesy of marketing manager Jaclyn Urda: “We’ve learned that fans will take coasters home. And so we ordered 80,000 for two days. That’s a lot.”
The organization will also put on a festival the Panthers are dubbing “Panthers Fan Fest” on those same days at the Wittelsbacherplatz. That will include food and drinks and live entertainment.
“Our legends will be there,” Urda said. “We’ll do live podcasting. ‘Stew and the Crew’ (a podcast hosted by former Panthers great Jonathan Stewart) will record two live tapings. Our entertainment team will be there. ... We’re also finding ways to integrate the German culture and German organizations into our stage programming.”
That includes the team inviting a popular German podcast taping something live as part of the Panthers Fan Fest entertainment. That includes a performance by German natives, including a saxophonist who has gone viral for playing a Carolina staple.
The song? “Sweet Caroline.”
Rewarding the fans from the Carolinas, too
This trip isn’t just a way to add new fans. It’s also a way to reward ones from the Carolinas who are making the trip to Munich.
Josh Klein, the CEO of Roaring Riot, told The Observer that about 325 people are coming to the game as part of their supporters section alone. Roaring Riot works closely with the Panthers, but it puts on many of its events independently from the team, too. For instance, it’ll host three different day trips to the Neuschwanstein Castle. It’ll host a trip to Salzburg, Austria, for the famous Sound of Music Tour. And more.
“A lot of fans, they see these international games as an excuse for travel built around the Panthers game,” Klein said.
It’s a reminder that just as the Panthers see Munich as a land of opportunity, Munich is benefiting from the Panthers’ presence, too.
The partnership doesn’t end after Sunday, either.
“This is something that we’re not just going to point to one day and say, ‘Oh, look, we had success,’” said O’Neill, the aforementioned Panthers official. “We’re going to measure it over five years or more.”
