2025 European League of Football season
| 2025 ELF season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | European League of Football |
| Sport | American football |
| Duration | May 17, 2025 – September 7, 2025 |
| Number of games | 96 + 5 playoff games |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| 2025 Championship Game | |
| Date | September 7, 2025 |
| Venue | MHPArena, Stuttgart |
The 2025 ELF season is the fifth season of the European League of Football, a professional American football league based in Europe. Sixteen teams from nine different countries will participate. The season starts on May 17, 2025, and will conclude with the ELF Championship Game in the MHPArena Stuttgart, Germany on September 7, 2025.
Format
[edit]The 16 teams are divided into four divisions of 4 teams. Each team plays 12 games during the regular season, six in the division and two games versus one from each other division.
On January 29, 2025 the league announced to expand the homegrown territories for multiple teams. Most of each teams' players need to be homegrown, i.e. they need to have started playing football in the same country that the team is based in. Now, players from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine will also be considered homegrown for the Panthers Wrocław, players from Slovakia are considered homegrown for the Prague Lions, and players from Romania and Serbia for the Fehérvár Enthroners. Players from western Northern Italy are considered homegrown for the Helvetic Mercenaries while those from eastern Northern Italy are so for the two Austrian franchises.[1] The Nordic Storm had already been announced as having Denmark and Sweden as their homegrown territory in September.[2]
Teams
[edit]
Of the 17 teams from the 2024 season, 15 are competing in 2025, and are joined by one new expansion team: the Nordic Storm. Teams not returning for the new season are the Barcelona Dragons, and the Milano Seamen, the latter on hiatus with plans to return to the league in 2026.
Berlin Thunder will move from the Großes Stadion of Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark whose demolition started after the 2024 season to the adjacent Kleines Stadion which will be expanded with temporary stands. The Helvetic Mercenaries are moving to the Lidl Arena in Wil where the Helvetic Guards played during their only season in 2023. The Hamburg Sea Devils will return to Stadion Hoheluft, after playing home games in different stadiums all over Northern Germany.
References
[edit]- ^ "European League of Football expands homegrown territories". europeanleague.football. 2025-01-29. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ Malchow, Alex (2024-09-28). "Nordic Storm: "Creating a strong football culture in Denmark/Sweden"". europeanleague.football. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ Christian Hönicke (18 December 2024). "Neues Stadion im Herzen Berlins: Temporäre American-Football-Arena für tausende Fans geplant". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "Shuan Fatah wird Sea Devils Head Coach". Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ Stefan Janssen (2023-03-29). "European League of Football: Rhein Fire trägt bald Spiele in Düsseldorfer Arena aus" (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ sportschau.de. "Ex-NFL-Coach Bart Andrus übernimmt : ELF: Ex-NFL-Coach Bart Andrus wird neuer Chef-Trainer von Frankfurt Galaxy" (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
- ^ martin (2024-09-04). "RAIDERS Tirol verlängern mit Jim Herrmann". Football (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-12.
- ^ "Instagram". Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Craig Kuligowski trenerem Panthers Wrocław w sezonie 2025" (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-09-12.