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Canadian Football League fans enjoyed the first two ‘Super Saturday’ tripleheaders of the season and can look forward to another, internationally-flavoured one this weekend.
Fans can create their own ‘Super Saturday’ in Week 18, by combining TSN’s exclusive live coverage of the German Bowl — featuring the country’s two dynasties, the New Yorker Lions and Schwabisch Hall Unicorns — at 12 p.m. ET on TSN.ca and the TSN app with the CFL doubleheader later in the day.
Standout Calgary Stampeders rookie Raheem Wilson is the most notable GFL alumnus in the CFL; the American defensive back has recorded 27 tackles and one interception with the Stamps in his 2019 debut after spending two seasons with Schwabisch Hall.
Straight outta the @GFLTVRADIO! 🇩🇪
There’s @Raheem_Wilson with his first career #CFL INT on #TNF!
Momentum ➡️ @calstampeders pic.twitter.com/QRqURTeom8
— CFL (@CFL) July 19, 2019
There are numerous ties between the Canadian game and Germany’s domestic league.
Current Winnipeg Blue Bomber Thiadric Hansen played for the Potsdam Royals, former REDBLACKS QB Danny Collins had a cup of coffee with the Frankfurt Universe and current Lions QB Sonny Weishaupt participated at the CFL Combine pres. by New Era back in March.
Global player 🇩🇪 LB Thiadric Hansen has his first #CFL sack and forced fumble.#CFLGameday #TryFootball pic.twitter.com/J0zYvFmCno
— CFL (@CFL) August 16, 2019
The Lions and Unicorns met in four-straight German Bowls (2014-17). New Yorker, a team based in the city of Braunschweig, won three of those four meetings and has the all-time lead in German Bowl appearances (17) and victories (11).
Saturday’s edition will be the 41st German Bowl, and will be played at Frankfurt’s beautiful Commerzbank Arena — one of the original 2006 FIFA World Cup stadiums.
It could be a nice football aperitif for CFL fans prior to Saturday’s doubleheader, featuring Montreal at Winnipeg (4:00 p.m. ET) and BC at Edmonton (7:00 p.m. ET) — both of which will be carried live on TSN.
About the GFL
Founded in 1979, the German Football League is the oldest gridiron football competition in Europe. The league comprises 16 teams, geographically split into North and South divisions, and has seen attendance roughly double over the past decade. The 2019 GFL playoffs saw an average attendance of 2,964.
About the German Bowl
Inaugurated in 1979, the German Bowl was the first gridiron football national championship established in Europe. Over its 40-year history the German Bowl has been won by 11 different teams, though northern teams (Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Braunschweig, Cologne, Berlin and Kiel) exclusively held the title from 1994-2010. The game is often close, with 26 of the 40 championships decided by a touchdown or less.
