American football team of the European League of Football, Rhein Fire, since its revival in 2021 has played its home games in Duisburg. Now it has been announced that in the coming years Fire will also appear during the regular season in Düsseldorf.

Rhein Fire, which has one of the expansion teams of the European League of Football (EFL) since the 2022 season, has resumed its operations after the suspension of its activities in 2007. Before the team has competed in the now defunct NFL Europe. Their home venue is currently Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena in the northern Rhine-Westphalian city of Duisburg. The stadium is also the home venue of MSV Duisburg. The facility is located in the Neudorf district and is set in the Duisburg Sports Park, which also has a regatta course, swimming stadium and ice rink. Sports fans can easily bet in Germany through legal online outlets, which will start listing EFL matches as they begin approaching.

Now the managers of Fire, the the city of Düsseldorf and the American streaming platform DLive have agreed, that the team will play at least one top game in the 2025 season and two top games at Merkur Spiel-Arena in 2026. All the parties involved have been in a constant positive exchange for some time.  Now there is also the time and content opportunity for regular ELF season games in Düsseldorf. 

© Stephan Hoogerwaard

Tom Aust, Managing Director of Rhein Fire said: We are pleased to have found a common solution for the future in trusting and constructive discussions. Rhein Fire has a great history in Düsseldorf and we have always felt connected to the state capital. We would like to thank everyone involved who has been working on it since the first day and has now made this possible. This is certainly great news for our fans too.

Merkur Spiel-Arena was opened in 2004 and has a capacity of 54,600 spectators. According to the architects' vision, the elliptical building was 'enclosed' by a semi-transparent façade in the form of a cuboid. A station for the city's railway operates under one of the stands, and a hotel is integrated into the stadium. At the time of its opening, it was among the most modern in the world due its retractable roof. It will be one of the venues of the upcoming Euro 2024.

Stephan Keller, Mayor of  Düsseldorf has also stated: Football has a great tradition and fan base in our city. The cooperation that started with the NFL last year gave sport in Düsseldorf additional importance and presence, which was recently observed, for example, during the Rose Monday procession. I am all the more pleased that Rhein Fire will play one or the other home game in Düsseldorf in the future and will ensure colorful football festivals in and around Merkur Spiel-Arena.

© Stephan Hoogerwaard

The success of Rhein Fire in Duisburg speaks for itself. All the more I welcome the step, at least in part, to return to the old place of work. I hope that you can build on these first games and look forward to a gigantic atmosphere that we were able to enjoy for the Championship Game 2021, said Patrick Esume, Commissioner of the European League of Football.