NFL Europa NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007 . Backed by the National Football League ( NFL ) , the largest professional American football league in the United States , it was founded as the World League of American Football ( WLAF ) to serve as a type of spring league . In 1995 , when the league was revamped after a two - year hiatus , the league name was shortened to the World League . In 1997 , the league rebranded itself as the NFL Europe League or NFL Europe , which it held for most of the rest of its lifetime . For the league ' s last season , it would officially change its name to NFL Europa . At the time of its disbanding , there were six teams in the league : five based in Germany and one in the Netherlands . Players in NFL Europa were predominantly assigned by National Football League teams who wanted these younger , " developmental " players to get additional game experience and coaching . The expenses of these players and their coaches while living in Europe were assumed by the league . On 29 June 2007 , the NFL announced NFL Europa would immediately cease operations . History . World League of American Football ( WLAF ) . NFL Europe was founded in 1991 as the World League of American Football . The original WLAF was an American football league partially backed by the National Football League and , like the later NFL Europa , was a spring developmental league . Originally , the ancestor to NFL Europe had 10 teams playing a 10 - game regular season : six teams from the United States , three European teams , and one Canadian team . Two additional franchises were initially proposed in Mexico City and Milan , but never formed . The two teams emerging from the WLAF semi - final playoffs met at the end of the season in the World Bowl . The first two World Bowl games were held at predetermined locations much like the modern Super Bowl . The original WLAF was barely noticed in the United States , and only marginally more popular in Europe . Total attendances at the fifty games in each season were between 1 . 2 and 1 . 3 million , giving an average game attendance in the mid twenty thousands . The WLAF suspended operations in 1993 prior to the season . The Frankfurt Galaxy was the last WLAF team left in NFL Europe . NFL Europe . The National Football League still liked the idea of a spring developmental league , and after revamping itself into an exclusively European circuit , the league re - launched in 1995 , consisting of the three existing European teams from the original format as well as three new teams in Amsterdam , Düsseldorf and Edinburgh ( who would compete as Scotland ) . All six teams play in a single division and the 10 - game format was preserved . The original playoff format matched the first - half champion against the team with the best overall season record ( or the runner - up , in the event the first - half champion also had the best overall record . ) The first - half champion would host the championship game . This format was abandoned after the 1997 season . In subsequent years , the two teams with the best overall record after 10 games competed in the World Bowl , to be hosted at a pre - determined site . The change was largely attributed to the play of the eventual 1997 World Bowl champions , the Barcelona Dragons , who secured a World Bowl berth with a 4 - 1 first - half record and proceeded to rest players and play what some argued was low - intensity football in the second half , finishing with just a 5 - 5 record and third place overall in the league ' s standings . By the end of the 1997 season , the league was growing concerned that their markets outside of Germany were not living up to their potential . Radical changes were made to the two British teams , spelling the beginning of the end for one . The London Monarchs would become the England Monarchs , switch their colours from blue , gold and red to red , white and black , and play their home games in London , Birmingham and Bristol . The league had been unhappy with the Monarchs as it was , since the field at their London stadium , White Hart Lane , was only 93 yards long — nowhere near enough to hold a full 100 yards and two ten - yard endzones . Also , the Scottish Claymores would divide their schedule between Edinburgh and Glasgow . Then , at a press conference in San Diego , California , during Super Bowl XXXII weekend , the league announced it too would be changing : the league would be rebranded as the NFL Europe League . The NFL Europe era was beset by instability . The England Monarchs were shut down after the 1998 season , being replaced by the Berlin Thunder . In 2002 , the Barcelona Dragons became an official section of FC Barcelona , adopting the name FC Barcelona Dragons , but folded after the 2003 season , when Barça dropped its sponsorship and the NFL was not interested in keeping the franchise alive . A new German franchise , the Cologne Centurions , took the Dragons ' place in the league in 2004 . The Scottish Claymores , one of the 3 teams added to the league in 1995 , were also discontinued with their replacements , the Hamburg Sea Devils , being established for the 2005 season . With this change , five of the six teams in the league ' s final incarnation were from Germany , with one from the Netherlands , leading some of the league ' s detractors to refer to it as ' NFL Deutschland ' or ' NFL Germany ' ; even speculating that the Admirals were only still in the Netherlands because they had won World Bowl XIII , and it wouldn ' t look good if the league moved its champions , or simply to justify its " European " identity by keeping one team outside the German borders . German teams , unsurprisingly , won all 7 World Bowl Championships between 1998 and 2004 . In 2005 the total attendance at the thirty games was 568 , 935 , and the average attendance of 18 , 965 was the highest since 1992 . On the other hand , TV contracts were cancelled as a result of teams moving out of the countries they were based upon , such as the NFLEL deal with satellite TV platform Digital + in Spain after the demise of the Barcelona Dragons . In 2006 , the league ' s schedule opened and closed one month earlier than normal because of the 2006 FIFA World Cup , which was played at four of the five German stadiums that hosted NFL Europa teams . ( Only the LTU Arena in Düsseldorf was not chosen to host Cup matches , and that stadium hosted the World Bowl that year . ) NFL Europa / Cessation of operations . On 11 September 2006 , NFL Europe officially re - branded itself as NFL Europa to reflect the name used for Europe in most European languages . Informally , the name " NFL Europe " continued to be used in the United States , including for the league ' s English - language Web site , nfleurope . com . On 29 June 2007 , NFL officials announced that the league would be disbanded effective immediately , calling the decision a sound business move that will allow for a stronger international focus on regular - season games outside the United States . The announcement came less than a week after the Hamburg Sea Devils beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 37 – 28 in the World Bowl championship in Frankfurt in front of a crowd of 48 , 125 . NFL commissioner Roger Goodell thanked the fans for their support but said it was time to develop a new international strategy , terming the move to fold NFL Europa the " best business decision . " The league reportedly was losing about $ 30 million a season . Experimental rules . The NFL has traditionally used a sudden death format for overtime . Regular season games have a single period of overtime during which the first team to score wins the game . If neither team scores , the game is declared a tie . In post - season games , overtime is extended indefinitely until one team scores . In NFL Europa , however , the overtime period lasted for 10 minutes with the requirement that each team must have the opportunity of possession at least once . So , in NFL Europa , it was possible for one team to score in overtime then have to kick - off to the opponent and give them a chance to either equalize or win the game . The winner was the team with the highest score after both teams had had possession . If the score was even after the second team ' s possession , the overtime would continue as sudden death . If still tied after 10 minutes , the game ends as a tie . Only two games ever remained tied after overtime in WLAF / NFL Europa history : London Monarchs versus Birmingham Fire in Week 4 of the 1992 season , and Berlin Thunder at Hamburg Sea Devils , on 1 April 2006 . The score of both games was 17 – 17 . With association football ( or soccer ) being the traditionally popular sport in Europe and American football being a relative newcomer , the rules were changed slightly to encourage a greater element of kicking which was intended to make the game more enjoyable for soccer and rugby fans . The league did this by awarding four points to field goal s of more than 50 yards , as opposed to three points in the NFL . This had the interesting side - effect that a touchdown and point - after lead ( seven points ) could be equaled by one regular field goal ( three points ) along with a long field goal ( four points ) . This concept would later be adopted by the proposed New United States Football League , with the distance required for the fourth point increased from 50 to 55 yards . Also , there was a requirement that at least one player of non - American extraction , referred to as " national " players , participate in every down for both teams as of the 2006 season ( in previous seasons one was required to play only on every down of every other series ) . In addition to European players a number of Mexican and Japanese players played as national players . Up until the 2004 season , kicked conversion attempts and short field goals were attempted by national players . Since there are few European players who have had the chance to compete at a level comparable to U . S . college football and the NFL , many , if not most , of the European players ended up as kickers . Among the notable national players included Scott McCready , an English wide receiver who played some preseason games for the New England Patriots , the Claymores ' wide receiver Scott Couper , who played a pre - season game for the Chicago Bears , Constantin Ritzmann , a German defensive end who had played for the University of Tennessee , and Rob Hart , an English rugby player who became a placekicker ; he kicked barefoot . Uniforms . The 1995 WLAF relaunch featured uniforms with a significantly different look to what is traditionally associated with American football . Instead of the full - size numbers centred on the front of the jersey , the team logos took precedence , with a smaller number over the right collarbone area . The Monarchs reverted to the traditional look in 1997 and the rest of the league followed a year later . NFL Europe teams . Attendance . Source : Kenn . com Television coverage . Although the last version of the NFL ' s developmental league had no U . S . teams , American television coverage continued until the end . From 1995 to 1998 , the primary TV carrier was FX , which carried two games a week , one on Saturday and the other on Sunday . From 1999 to 2004 , Fox Sports Net showed a " game of the week " on Saturday , with DirecTV viewers receiving additional live games on channels that normally carried NFL Sunday Ticket . In 2005 , NFL Network began showing all regular season games , either live or on tape delay , and this continued until the league folded . From 1995 to 2005 , Fox showed the World Bowl and two or three regular season games annually . In 2006 and 2007 , NFL Network showed the title game . Announcers who called NFL Europe games over the years included Curt Menefee , Nick Halling , Ari Wolfe , Troy Aikman , Daryl ' Moose ' Johnston , Michael Reghi , and Brentson Buckner . Game broadcasts were also available throughout Europe and in other territories throughout the world . EuroPass , an offshoot of FieldPass , broadcast Internet video of games , free of charge , in the league ' s later years .