Will the Carolina Panthers be substituting their barbecue for bratwurst some time next year? Peter King of NBC Sports thinks so.
In his latest edition of “Football Morning in America,” King—who was on hand for this weekend’s trip to Munich—seems to get the feeling that the Panthers will finally get their shot to “host” a game in Germany.
He writes:
Germany will host one game next year, and it figures to be the Panthers—the only one of the four original NFL teams to declare Germany as a global-rights country that hasn’t been scheduled for a game here—giving up one of six non-division games in Charlotte. Dallas and Kansas City are on the Panthers’ home slate but seem unlikely to play here next year; Carolina wouldn’t want to give up a Cowboys or KC home game. That’d leave the Giants, Chargers, or the NFC West or AFC North foes who finish in a like place to Carolina in the ’23 standings. I went to a Panthers-sponsored cornhole tournament with Steve Smith in the house on Saturday, and the fans there believe they’re the chosen team for Munich next fall.
Actually, it could very well be the Chiefs who make the trip with them. A report back in May from Max Schrader of German newspaper Bild, one which would later be confirmed by Joe Person of The Athletic, noted that the Panthers will be taking on the Super Bowl LVII champions for a 2024 matchup in Deutschland.
The Panthers and the Chiefs, who are fresh off a 21-14 victory in Munich over the Miami Dolphins, are two of four teams that have been granted marketing, fan engagement and commercialization access in Germany as part of the NFL’s International Home Marketing Area plan. They are joined by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who made a victorious trek against the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, and the New England Patriots, who will be headed over this upcoming week to take on the Indianapolis Colts.
