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Football was introduced to the country by U.S. soldiers after World War II, but interests soared when the N.F.L. played its first regular-season game there last year.
By Ken Belson
Reporting from Munich and Hamburg, Germany
About 60 hardcore fans of the National Football League piled into the party space at Der Player, a fancy eatery, on a chilly evening in Hamburg, Germany, last month. Wearing jerseys and hoodies of teams like the Chicago Bears, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, they grabbed seats to watch a taping of “Prime Time Football Live,” which attracts thousands of viewers on YouTube.
At 7 p.m., Patrick Esume, a former coach and now the commissioner of the semipro European League of Football, warmed up the audience before leading them in a countdown: “Drei, zwei, eins, Football Bromance!” He then introduced his panelists: the former coach Andreas Nommensen; Mika Kaul, a television commentator; and Kasim Edebali, who played six seasons in the N.F.L.
For the next 90 minutes, they reviewed the latest games, peppered the audience with questions, like whether Patrick Mahomes is one of the five best quarterbacks of all time, and dissected a four-game suspension that the Denver Broncos cornerback Kareem Jackson received. Phrases like “bang-bang play,” “hard-nosed linebacker” and “field possession” were tossed around with ease.
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Esume kept the show light and moving, and he leaned on Edebali for his expertise as a linebacker. At points, they stood together to demonstrate legal tackling techniques, and they talked in detail about how to study opposing offenses. Afterward, the audience crowded around the panelists and took a group photo.
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