As part of the team’s “home market” expansion in Germany and the DACH region through the NFL’s Global Markets Program, the New England Patriots today announced that Oliver Bierhoff will serve as an official business advisor for the organization.
By offering local leadership and industry expertise in that region, Bierhoff will support the organization’s strategy as it grows and develops its fan base and footprint in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. He will offer guidance on business development, branding, and marketing tactics. As the head of the German national team and a former executive at the German Football Association, Bierhoff has a wealth of personal and professional expertise in promoting sport across the country.
Jen Ferron, Chief Marketing Officer of Kraft Sports and Entertainment, said, “As we launched our efforts in Germany, with Switzerland and Austria soon thereafter, we realized we would be best served by adding expertise from someone who has been a business leader in the region to advise us in our efforts.” Oliver’s unique experience in the German sports scene makes him an excellent counsel. “We are excited to be embarking on a new chapter in our company’s history by marketing and building relationships in Germany,” said Oliver. His knowledge of the local political and economic scene will be extremely helpful to us as we step up our efforts to build our brand throughout the DACH region.
Oliver Bierhoff remarked, “American football is a great sport and source of entertainment.” “I adore the game’s intensity, agility, and emotion. I’ve been a devoted football fan for a long time. I’m happy to have joined the Patriots family and am eager to help the team with its ongoing European expansion. The immense potential I perceive for increasing the popularity of American football in a very desirable DACH market is what excites me.”
Through the National Football League’s Global Markets Program, Germany was recognized as the New England Patriots’ official “home market” in 2021. The Patriots have just added Austria and Switzerland as new overseas home markets to the program. After recruiting German-born players Sebastian Vollmer in 2009 and Jakob Johnson in 2019, the Patriots have seen exponential development in their fan base in Germany through content distribution for years.
Concerning Oliver Bierhoff:
Oliver Bierhoff is a professional football player who served as manager and sports official for the German national team at the German Football Association between 2004 and 2022. Furthermore, from 2018 to 2022, Bierhoff oversaw the DFB’s National Teams & Academy Directorate.
Prior to it, he was the captain of the German national team and the standout kicker for AC Milan of the Italian first division. Soccer history’s first Golden Goal was scored by Oliver Bierhoff in the 1996 European Championship final. He scored 37 goals while playing in 70 senior international matches while donning the German national team’s uniform. Oliver Bierhoff won German Footballer of the Year and the Italian Seria A league’s best scorer in 1998. He and AC Milan won the Italian championship in 1999.
Bierhoff was named the German national soccer team’s first manager in 2004. Since 2004, he has accompanied and helped to professionalize the Germany national team, who won the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the FIFA Confed Cup in 2017. As Managing Director of “National Teams & Academy,” he brought together men’s and women’s soccer together with the DFB Academy under a single departmental plan for the first time ever. He also co-founded the youth soccer initiative “Project Future” with the DFL.