 | |
| Formerly | World League of American Football (1991) World League (1992, 1995–97) NFL Europa (2007) |
|---|---|
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | July 19, 1989[1] |
| First season | 1991 |
| Ceased | July 29, 2007[2] |
| Divisions | 3 (1991–1992) |
| No. of teams | 10 (1991–1992) 6 (1995–2007) |
| Countries | Canada (1991–92) Germany (1991–92, 1995–2007) Netherlands (1995–2007) Spain (1991–92, 1995–2003) United Kingdom (1991–92, 1995–2004) United States (1991–92) |
| Last champion(s) | Hamburg Sea Devils (1) |
| Most titles | Frankfurt Galaxy (4) |
| Related competitions | National Football League |
NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded in 1989 as the World League of American Football (or WLAF), the league was envisioned as a transatlantic league encompassing teams from both North America and Europe. Initially, the WLAF consisted of seven teams in North America and three in Europe. It began play in 1991 and lasted for two seasons before suspending operations; while the league had been "wildly popular" in Europe, it failed to achieve success in North America. After a two-year hiatus, it returned as a six-team European league, with teams based in England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, and Spain. NFL Europa was dissolved in 2007 due to its continued unprofitability and the NFL's decision to shift its focus towards hosting regular-season games in Europe; at the time of its closure, the league consisted of five German teams and one team based in the Netherlands.
The league operated under rules nearly identical to the NFL, but featured some differences and experimental rules changes designed to appeal to fans of association football (soccer) and rugby football. NFL teams were incentivized to allocate players through the granting of additional training camp positions for each allocated player, and each team in NFL Europe was required to employ a number of "local" players. Most of the league's players were American, with "local" players tending to be converted rugby or soccer players playing at the punter or placekicker positions. Several NFL Europe alumni – including quarterbacks Brad Johnson, Kurt Warner, and Jake Delhomme – went on to have successful careers in the NFL, and three NFL Europe alumni (Adam Vinatieri, Dante Hall, and Brian Moorman) made the National Football League 2000s All-Decade Team.
The league's schedule went through several formats throughout its existence, but each season always culminated in the championship World Bowl game. In its initial run, each team played a ten-game schedule, and the winners of each of the three divisions (Europe, North America East, and North America West), along with the team with the best record that didn't win a division, would play in a four-team playoff. Following its revival as a six-team European league, the ten-game schedule was retained as double round-robin regular season. From 1995 to 1997, the World Bowl was played between the team with the best record in the first half of the season and the team with the best record in the second half of the season; from 1998 on, the two teams with the best records across the entire season played in the World Bowl. The Frankfurt Galaxy – the only team to play all 15 seasons of the league's existence – won the most World Bowl titles (four) and recorded the most World Bowl appearances (eight), while the final league title was won by the Hamburg Sea Devils.
- ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (July 20, 1989). "Global N.F.L. Game Plan: New League, New Lands". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NFL Europa foldswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).