BIG6 European Football League

Not to be confused with NFL Europe.
BIG6 European Football League
Sport Gridiron football
Founded 2014
No. of teams 6
Continent Europe
Most recent
champion(s)		 New Yorker Lions
Most titles New Yorker Lions (2)
Relegation to European Football League
Related
competitions		 Eurobowl
Official website bigsix.eu

The BIG6 European Football League (BIG6) is a European Cup style tournament for European American football teams. Originally organized by the EFAF (European Federation of American Football),[1] the tournament has been run by the German Football League International since 2015.[2] The final game of the BIG6 is called the Eurobowl, which has been held annually since 1986.

The current champions are the New Yorker Lions of Germany, who defeated Austria's Swarco Raiders Tirol 35–21.

History

BIG6 game between the Vikings Vienna and the New Yorker Lions, 24 April 2016.

In 2014, the newly created BIG6 European Football League was introduced as the new top-tier competition of American football in Europe, replacing the old European Football League (EFL).[3] The EFL continued to be played as a second-tier competition, with its teams now playing for the newly created EFL Bowl trophy instead of the Eurobowl.[4]

The BIG6 initially consisted of three teams from Germany, two from Austria and one from Switzerland, the clubs being Berlin Adler, New Yorker Lions, Dresden Monarchs, Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna, Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Calanda Broncos. The Berlin Adler became inaugural BIG6 champions, defeating fellow German club New Yorker Lions 20–17 in Eurobowl XXVIII.

For the 2015 season, Dresden and the Calanda Broncos were replaced by the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (Germany) and the La Courneuve Flash (France),[5] making La Courneuve the first team from outside of German-speaking Europe to enter the competition. In Eurobowl XXIX, the New Yorker Lions defeated fellow German club Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns 24–14.

For the 2016 season, the Flash were replaced by fellow French club Aix-en-Provence Argonautes.[6] The 2016 season saw the first time that a non-German team survived the group stage when the Swarco Raiders Tirol knocked out the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in the last group match to advance to Eurobowl XXX against the New Yorker Lions.

Before the 2017 season, both Austrian clubs left the BIG6.[7][8] Aside from founding members New Yorker Lions, the league's management invited the Amsterdam Crusaders (Netherlands), the Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden), the Frankfurt Universe (Germany), the Milano Seamen (Italy) and one team from Berlin (either founding members Berlin Adler or the Berlin Rebels) to join the league for the new season.[9] However, Carlstad's participation was vetoed by the Swedish American Football Federation.[10] From 2017 on, the last placed team of the BIG6 may have to play a relegation game against the winners of the EFL Bowl, and be relegated to the EFL if they lose.[11]

Teams

Location of teams in the BIG6 European Football League.
Current teams, former teams.
Team City, country Stadium Seasons in BIG6
Aix-en-Provence Argonautes Aix-en-Provence, France Stade Georges-Carcassonne 1 (2016–)
Berlin Adler Berlin, Germany Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
Poststadion 		3 (2014–)
New Yorker Lions Braunschweig, Germany Eintracht-Stadion
Stadion am Salzgittersee, Salzgitter		 3 (2014–)
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Schwäbisch Hall, Germany Hagenbachstadion
Optima Sportpark 		2 (2015–)
Swarco Raiders Tirol Innsbruck, Austria Tivoli-Neu 3 (2014–)
Vikings Vienna Vienna, Austria Hohe Warte Stadium
FAC-Platz 		3 (2014–)

Former teams

Team City, country Stadium Seasons in BIG6
Calanda Broncos Landquart, Switzerland Stadion Ringstrasse, Chur 1 (2014)
Dresden Monarchs Dresden, Germany Glücksgas Stadium[notes 1] 1 (2014)
La Courneuve Flash La Courneuve, France Stade de Marville 1 (2015)

Champions

For a list of champions by year, see Eurobowl.

By club

Club Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Germany New Yorker Lions21 2015, 2016 2014
Germany Berlin Adler10 2014
Austria Swarco Raiders Tirol01 2016
Germany Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns01 2015

By country

Country Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Germany Germany32 2014, 2015, 2016 2014, 2015
Austria Austria01 2016

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The normal home venue for the Monarchs at the time was the Heinz Steyer Stadion, however special games (such as the lone Big6 home game) have often been held in the bigger stadium instead.

References

  1. ↑ EFL Elite to start in 2014 eurobowl.com, published: 15 October 2013, accessed: 22 November 2016
  2. ↑ Atlantic Cup joins GFL International. Netherlands to host 2015 tournament. americanfootball.ie, published: 14 February 2015, accessed: 22 November 2016
  3. ↑ BIG6 European Football League starts 2014 bigsix.eu, published: 26 November 2013, accessed: 22 November 2016
  4. ↑ EFL 2014 teams announced www.efaf.info, published: 11 February 2014, accessed: 8 July 2014
  5. ↑ Wieder drei GFL-Teams in Europas Big6 (in German) www.efaf.info, published: 23 December 2014, accessed: 28 December 2014
  6. ↑ Third season for Big6 eurobowl.com, published: 3 November 2015, accessed: 3 November 2015
  7. ↑ BIG6 ohne Österreich (in German) football-austria.com, published: 19 November 2016, accessed: 22 November 2016
  8. ↑ Austria Opts Out of Big6 americanfootballinternational.com, published: 22 November 2016, accessed: 22 November 2016
  9. ↑ League Management issues invitations for Big6 and EFL eurobowl.info, published: 15 November 2016, accessed: 22 November 2016
  10. ↑ Swedish Federation Says Big6 Is Off Limits For Carlstad Crusaders americanfootballinternational.com, published: 24 November 2016, accessed: 24 November 2016
  11. ↑ Regulations for Club-Team Competitions eurobowl.efaf.info, published: 15 October 2016, accessed: 2 November 2016

External links

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