It must have been 2013 or 2014, says FC Bayern fan Thor. Paul Breitner was astonished when he visited the Bayern fan club in New York and witnessed the passion and love that the New Yorkers had for his home club. Why should Americans be interested in a football club from Munich? We revisited this question ahead of the NFL Munich Game at the Allianz Arena. On Sunday, the Carolina Panthers meet the New York Giants. In the build-up, fcbayern.com spoke to two fans from the two franchises who also support the German record champions.
Bayern fan thanks to Beckenbauer – and great uncle Reinhold
"What Paul Breitner thought regarding football in the USA then, I now think about the NFL in Germany," describes Thor. "I can't believe American football is booming so much in Europe, it's great." On the one hand Thor is a supporter of the New York Giants, on the other he's an even bigger fan of Bayern – and has been since 1981. "My mother was born in Aschaffenburg in Bavaria and when I came to Germany for the first time at the age of nine, her uncle Reinhold convinced me of FC Bayern," explains Thor, who lives in New Jersey these days. Since Franz Beckenbauer still played for Cosmos New York up until 1980, the club was already familiar to him – and from then on, the Munich men had a place in his heart.
Nowadays, Thor, namesake of the superhero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is even vice president of the FCB fan club in New York City, whose official Facebook page has almost 16,000 fans. Every weekend he watches Bayern's games on ESPN, even though his idol is no longer on the pitch. "I also got into FC Bayern through Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was the best player in the world in the eighties," enthuses Thor, who met the former world-class striker and CEO in person during the 2019 Audi Summer Tour in Houston and Kansas City. "That was also on behalf of my late great uncle Reinhold. I just love these summer tours: they not only help FC Bayern but also football in general in the States," says the 51-year-old. Thanks to the FCB network in North America, he also maintains excellent contacts with the fan clubs in San Diego, Nebraska, Montreal and Washington. Mia san family!
Big impact of Audi Summer Tour
Kyle from North Carolina also highlights the significance of the Summer Tour. It was 2016 when Bayern stopped in Charlotte during their journey through the USA. Kyle cheered on his heroes such as Franck Ribéry in a 4-1 friendly victory against Inter Milan. "I'll never forget that," he states. Charlotte is incidentally also the home of the Carolina Panthers, who will step out in Munich for the first time on Sunday. Kyle has been a fan of the Panthers since they were newly formed in 1995 and of Bayern since 2006. "I went to Germany for the first time during the home World Cup in 2006, I stayed with a friend at his grandparents in Karlsruhe all summer," recalls the 34-year-old. "I got to know a new culture than and a new sport. I then became a Bayern fan through the German national team."
Kyle's first football shirt was a Germany kit with the number 13 of Michael Ballack on the back. Now he often wears a Bayern jersey, such as at the annual Oktoberfest in Durham in North Carolina, where he often gets spoken to about it. Thor can back that up, too: "Football's becoming bigger in the USA. American football, baseball, ice hockey and basketball are still leading, but soccer's closing the gap on fourth place." He laughs when he says this: "I've never understood why 'Fußball' is called soccer in the USA. 'Fußball' should actually be called football because in American football, the feet only play a secondary role anyway, except for the kicker or punter. That’s weird."
Panthers or Giants – who wins?
On Sunday, Thor and Kyle won't be rooting for the same football team in red and white, but for their respective NFL franchises. So how will it pan out? "The Giants' offence is weaker than the Panthers, but we have a better defence," claims Thor, while Kyle is looking to the Panthers' improved recent form: "They're getting better right now, especially after the important 23-22 win against the Saints last week. I'm counting on our running backs." Although both teams are currently on two wins and seven defeats, Munich can look forward to the next NFL festival after the inaugural NFL game on German soil two years ago.
Even though Thor and Kyle will be wearing different jerseys in front of their televisions on Sunday at 9:30 am (3:30 pm German time) on the east coast, they will soon be cheering for the same sports team and their favourite players again. No longer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Paul Breitner or Michael Ballack, but Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer & Co.
While the Giants practised on Friday evening at Säbener Straße, the Panthers prepared for the upcoming football match at the FC Bayern Campus in the north of the city:
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