Regional fan club meeting in Charlotte: Celebrating together, growing together

Whether at the fan club dinner of the official fan club Over the Rhine at Moerlein Lager House in Cincinnati, at the pub takeover at the red and white The Pitch Cincy or at the official fan event with the Miami München fan club at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus with freshly tapped Paulaner Hell in Coral Gables – the atmosphere among the numerous Bayern fans at the Club World Cup is excellent. Fans from all over the country travel to the matches, even if it takes thousands of kilometres, to meet up and talk about their passion. Currently there are more than 100 active FC Bayern fan clubs in the USA alone, and the community is constantly growing. The motto: Celebrating together – growing together.

Ahead of the last group match against Benfica at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, 22 fan club chairpersons from ten official FC Bayern fan clubs in the USA and Canada exchanged views with FC Bayern’s US office and the division Fans from Munich at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery & Biergarten. It was the second regional fan club meeting in the USA after the first one at FC Bayern’s office at Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center in March 2024. Julia Willer (Managing Director Americas) and Markus Meindl (Director fans) gave insights into their work, presented current and future offers for fans and fan clubs and answered questions from the fan club representatives at the second meeting.

The common goal is to expand FC Bayern’s fan base in North America in the long run by establishing dialogue structures, including digital meetups with the fan clubs, and organising attractive fan events in the USA. Selina Nützel (Coordinator fan and fan club engagement) presented the fan club visits project: More and more international fan clubs are organising fan club trips to Munich. In March, the official fan club from Washington, D.C. visited a home match at the Allianz Arena with more than 80 fan club members. Needless to say, the fan club supported the team against Benfica in Charlotte with numerous fan club members.

Even though FC Bayern has more than 400,000 members, “we want to be close and approachable for our fans from across the globe,” Meindl said about the club culture: “That’s our DNA, that’s what makes our club so unique, that’s what makes the difference. Our fan clubs here in the USA live this community, the ‘Mia san Mia’, with us. People live FC Bayern around the world – one family, one club.” American, Canadian and German Bayern fans are celebrating together at various venues during the Club World Cup – it can go on like this.