The BIG6 European Football League (BIG6) was a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

style tournament for European

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

teams. Originally organized by the EFAF (European Federation of American Football), the tournament had been run by the German Football League International since 2015. The final game of the BIG6 was called the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

, which had been held annually since 1986. Its last season was in 2018.

History

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 The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a tournament for the best European American football teams affiliated to IFAF (International Federation of American Football - Europe), which replaced the European Federation of American ...

(EFL). 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

. The BIG6 initially consisted of three teams from Germany, two from Austria and one from Switzerland, the clubs being

Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler ( en, Berlin Eagles) is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as a ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bow ...

New Yorker Lions The New Yorker Lions are an American Football team from Braunschweig, Germany. Until late 2010, the team was known as the Braunschweig Lions.

Dresden Monarchs The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division. They are the reigning champion after having won German Bowl XL ...

Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna The Vienna Vikings is an American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well being the runner ...

Swarco Raiders Tirol The Raiders Tirol (for the AFL-Teams SWARCO Raiders Tirol, formerly Papa Joe’s Tyrolean Raiders) are an American football team based in Innsbruck, Austria. Founded in 1992, the Raiders since have become one of Austria's and Europe's most domina ...

and the

Calanda Broncos The Calanda Broncos are an American football team from Landquart, Switzerland. The club, formed in 1991 as the Landquart Broncos, changed its name in late 2008 after the Calanda mountain to show the club's desire to represent a larger region of ...

. 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 The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns are an American football team from Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. The club's greatest successes were winning the southern division title in the German Football League in 2009 and in every season played since 2011 (as of ...

(Germany) and the

La Courneuve Flash The La Courneuve Flash are a French American football team based in La Courneuve, France. The team plays in Ligue Élite de Football Américain The Championnat Élite Division 1 () is the top-level American football league of France. The league ...

(France), making La Courneuve the first team from outside of

German-speaking Europe This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in 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 The Aix-en-Provence Argonautes are a French American football team based in Aix-en-Provence. The team plays in Ligue Élite de Football Américain and in BIG6 European Football League. History The team was established in 1986. In their second yea ...

. 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. In the final in Innsbruck, the Lions defeated the Raiders 35–21. Before the 2017 season, both Austrian clubs left the BIG6. Aside from founding members New Yorker Lions, the league's management invited the

Amsterdam Crusaders The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American Football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club. Beginnings The Crusaders starte ...

(Netherlands), the

Carlstad Crusaders Carlstad Crusaders is a Swedish American football team, based in Karlstad, Sweden. The team plays at Tingvalla IP Tingvalla Idrottsplats, Tingvalla IP, is a stadium in Karlstad, Sweden and is the home ground of the football team Carlstad Unit ...

(Sweden), the

Frankfurt Universe The Frankfurt Universe are a German American football team from Frankfurt, Hesse. The club, formed in 2007, won promotion to the German Football League 2, the second tier of league football in Germany, in 2011. The team rebranded itself as "Fran ...

(Germany), the

Milano Seamen The Seamen Milano are an American football team based in Milan, Italy that competes in the Italian Football League. The team will join the European League of Football for the 2023 season. History 80s The Seamen Milano were founded by Sergio Ga ...

(Italy) and one team from Berlin (either founding members Berlin Adler or the

Berlin Rebels The Berlin Rebels are an American football team from Berlin, Germany. The team is playing in the German Football League, the highest level of American football in Germany. In the most recent seasons the Rebels managed to qualify for the play-offs ...

) to join the league for the new season. However, Carlstad's participation was vetoed by the Swedish American Football Federation. On 1 February 2017, it was announced that the Amsterdam Crusaders, the

Badalona Dracs The Badalona Dracs (, "Badalona Dragons") are a gridiron football team based in Badalona, Catalonia. History Three American football enthusiasts got together in Badalona on a December 1987's evening to found the team. They were Pere Moliner, first ...

(Spain), the Berlin Rebels, the Frankfurt Universe, the Milano Seamen and the New Yorker Lions would be the six teams to compete in the 2017 BIG6 European Football League. 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 In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the EFL if they lose.Regulations for Club-Team Competitions
eurobowl.efaf.info, published: 15 October 2016, accessed: 2 November 2016 So far, this rule was never applied. For the 2018 season, which was the league's last, the BIG6 was reduced to four teams.

Teams

Former teams

Eurobowl Champions

For a list of champions by year (1986-2018), see

Notes

References

External links

BIG6 European Football League
{{European Club Competitions European Football League Sports leagues established in 2014 2014 establishments in Europe