American Football League Europe

Following the 2025 season, several teams left the European League of Football (ELF), established in 2020. The ELF's leadership was criticized for a lack of transparency, and the teams complained that they were not receiving revenue shares from the league. The teams, which formed the European Football Alliance (EFA), could not agree on a league structure. Some teams favored a team-led league, and those teams will play in the 2026 EFA season. However, others preferred to create a new league with the support of an external investor, thereby breaking away from the EFA. This new league, the AFLE, was publicly presented on December 2, 2025.^[2]

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

The inaugural season is scheduled to begin on May 23, 2026 with Berlin Thunder facing the Vienna Vikings.^[4] The championship game is planned for September 6, 2026.

Thunder

Panthers

Fire

Rams

Vikings

Lights

Red Lions

London Football Team

American Football League Europe (Europe)

Locations of AFLE teams competing in 2026

On December 6, 2025, Rhein Fire, the two-time ELF, champion became the first team to announce its participation in the league.^[5] For the 2026 season, the league has confirmed eight teams. In addition to Rhein Fire, the teams are Berlin Thunder,^[6] Panthers Wrocław,^[7] and the Vienna Vikings,^[8] all from the ELF. Newly founded teams that have been added are the Alpine Rams^[9], the Paris Lights^[10], the Firenze Red Lions,^[11] and a London team that has not yet been named.^[12] The league has also announced an additional team from Monaco for 2027.^[13]

Teams	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Head Coach	2025
Berlin Thunder	Berlin	Cantianstadion	02,000	Shawn Cooper	ELF, 3–9
Panthers Wrocław	Wrocław	Olympic Stadium/ Tarczyński Arena	11,000/ 45,105	Dave Likins	ELF, 5–7
Rhein Fire	Düsseldorf/Duisburg	Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg	31,500	Mark Ridgley	ELF, 8–4, Wild Card game
Alpine Rams	Biel/Bienne	Tissot Arena	5,200	Joshua Fitzgerald	new
Vienna Vikings	Vienna	Wiener Sport-Club Stadium/ Generali Arena	5,600/ 15,014	Chris Calaycay	ELF, 11–1, lost Championship Game
Paris Lights	Paris			David Shelton	new
Firenze Red Lions	Florence	Guelfi Sports Center	750	Bill Shuey	new
London Football Team	London				new