/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63269056/Clark_Hunt.0.jpg)
In a Bild+ piece, Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas owner Clark Hunt mused on the National Football League using the Allianz Arena to host a game, also touching the partnership between Bayern Munich and FC Dallas and his favorite Bayern player, among any other topics.
Hunt is a very influential NFL owner and could be at the forefront of a push to hold NFL games in Germany, even at the Allianz Arena. He told Bild,
I can easily imagine that. The NFL is in the process of enlarging its fan base. It holds regular league games in London and now also in Mexico. I know that the NFL is open to games in Germany, and not just as a one-off event, but over a longer period of time. It will definitely still take a while, but it is being worked on. Completely selfishly: I hope the KC Chiefs will be one of the first teams here.
The subject of NFL games played overseas polarized some fan bases. Similarly, La Liga’s publicized effort to hold league fixtures overseas in the United States was met with a huge amount of pushback from both players and fans. That said, the NFL has created a unique schedule that has developed into an accepted practice each season, even among the most volatile and loudest fanbases.
Aside of bringing an NFL game to Germany, Hunt has lofty ambitions for the relationship between FC Dallas and Bayern.
We started the collaboration a year ago. It is very much focused on player development. Four or five of our youth players from FC Dallas have since trained at Bayern; Chris Richards transferred there. Bayern’s U23 team was in Dallas and played against our first team. And hopefully players from the youth system of Bayern can play professionally for us in the future. We, in turn, can also help find players in South America, who might then play in Dallas before moving to Munich. This is, for example, a path we can go down together.
Finally, Hunt, whose favorite player is Thomas Müller, thinks the influx of European stars to MLS such as LA Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Chicago Fire’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, and DC United’s Wayne Rooney helps the league. Would he like to see Müller wearing the red, white, and blue of FC Dallas? Sure, but the owner knows it is a long shot>
All of these players, and a few more, have made US football more popular around the world, and they still do. However, the MLS should focus more on younger players in the future. From Bayern? An FC Dallas jersey would look good on all of them! Or let me put it this way: personally, I’m a big fan of Thomas Müller. His career — what a great story! But I think he will probably end his career at Bayern.