Falcons have embraced NFL’s international game, marketing initiatives

BERLIN — Falcons president Greg Beadles wants to make it clear that the team is in full support of the NFL’s international initiatives.

“International growth and becoming more of a global sports property is a big initiative for the league overall,” Beadles told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re a league team. We’re supportive and we’re always trying to lead in every way that we can.”

The Falcons (3-5) are set to face the Colts (7-2) at 9:30 a.m. EST at the historic Olympic Stadium as part of the NFL’s wildly successful International Series.

The Falcons have played three games in London since 2014. This will be the first regular-season NFL game in Berlin, the capital of Germany.

For the Falcons, it’s about football and global marketing.

“Teams can have different global markets now,” Beadles said. “So, Germany is the one that we applied for a couple of years back and got it. So, this is really our first kind of full year. Last year, we called it Year Zero. Just kind of starting to get ramped up.”

The Falcons had some natural ties to Germany.

“We chose Germany for us. We also have great partners in Mercedes-Benz (and) Delta; it’s a huge hub for them,” Beadles said. “As you know, we’re huge supporters of the military. You always see all of the military things we do every year. Germany has the second-most military bases in the world for the U.S.”

The Falcons have had their eyes on Germany for awhile.

“It’s somewhere where we’ve gone and visited,” Beadles said. “We’ve supported (the country) in the past from that standpoint. That gives us a good base to go and visit.”

There was a great deal of planning for the trip and the game by the Falcons’ community relations and logistics team, including Brandon Ruth, the team’s senior director of operations.

“On the trip, our CR (community relations) group is going out with some legends (Jessie Tuggle and Todd McClure) beforehand,” Beadles said. “We are going to visit three different places. We are going to visit three different military bases. So that is one of (the) things we want to do going forward.”

The Falcons are also using the trip as an effort to grow interest in flag football.

“They already had 30,000 people participating — youth — in flag football,” Beadles said. “Last year, we held a flag clinic over there. We are going to do another one this week. There are all kinds of reasons why we went there. We already had some of things we thought were good foundational aspects.”

Playing the game was the final piece of the master plan.

“The real opportunity for teams in when you can actually play in that market, so this will be our first time to be there on the ground with the team,” Beadles said. “That’s when fans can see us. They can be more directly involved and we’re going to have all kind of different events for them to do while we are there to get engaged with us.”

The Falcons will have a daylong event on Saturday.

“We are going to have Falcons Haus,” Beadles said. “It’s going to be cool, at an art gallery. All kinds of Falcons-related memorabilia, cool things for fans to come and see. We’re going to be open all day for that on Saturday. Then we’ll have some parties, with sponsors, meeting some new potential new sponsors.”

In addition to Mercedes-Benz and Delta, the Falcons have Airbnb sponsoring the Falcons Haus and Nike is helping with the flag football clinic.

The Falcons played in London in 2014, ’21 and ’23, and they learned about the travel logistics from those trips.

“(As a league) we’ve done well over 100 International games,” Beadles said. “When we were over things in 2014 for the first time, it was a little bit different from now, 10 to 12 years later. … The league has gotten better from doing a lot of study and sharing that information with us.”

The Falcons’ business team is well prepared for the trip.

“Our marketing teams have been over there twice, just to be ready for fans and all of that,” Beadles said. “More prep on the front side to help us, then the league as a partner understanding more had to put these games on.”

As soon as the schedule dropped, the Falcons went to work.

“As soon as we knew, everything from how we get from the hotel to the practice facility, to stadium on games days,” Beadles said. “What’s the locker room situation? When we can get in there? (Equipment manager) Joey (Galioto) and his team can get in there and get everything set up. What’s the field going to be like? We’ve had meetings with (officials) who run all of the field stuff for the league just to understand what cleats do we take, what do we wear, all of that stuff.”

Here’s the Berlin fan itinerary for those making the trip (events are free and open to the public):

Saturday at Fotografiska Berlin

Friedrichstraße 112B, 10117 Berlin

Join us for a walk-through experience celebrating 60 years of the Atlanta Falcons, shop exclusive Falcons in Berlin merchandise and meet Falcons Legends, mascots and cheerleaders!

Meet and greet schedule

• 10–11 a.m. — Freddie Falcon
• 11 a.m.–12 p.m. — Fritz Falcon
• 12–1 p.m. — Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders
• 2–3 p.m. — Todd McClure and Jessie Tuggle
• 3–4 p.m. — Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders
• 4–5 p.m. — Freddie Falcon
• 5–6 p.m. — Fritz Falcon

*Fan rally at 10 a.m. Sunday at Belushi Alexanderplatz