FOXBOROUGH – Today, the New England Patriots announced that Oliver Bierhoff will serve as an official business advisor for the organization as part of the team's "home market" expansion in Germany and the DACH region through the NFL's Global Markets Program.
Bierhoff will support the organization's strategy as it continues to grow and develop its fan base and footprint in Germany, Switzerland and Austria by providing local leadership and industry expertise in that region. He will advise on strategies built around marketing, branding and business development. As a former executive and head of the Germany national team at the German Football Association, Bierhoff has extensive personal and professional experience in building sport nationwide.
"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," said Jen Ferron, Chief Marketing Officer for Kraft Sports and Entertainment. "Marketing and developing business relationships in Germany is a new opportunity for us, and we are honored to welcome Oliver on board as an advisor with a one-of-a-kind experience in the German sports environment. His familiarity with the business and political landscape of the region will be invaluable as we strengthen our efforts to expand our branding throughout the DACH region.
"American football is a great sport and source of entertainment," said Oliver Bierhoff. "I love the passion, the athleticism and the excitement of the game. For years I have been an avid football fan. I am proud of becoming a part of the Patriots family and I am looking forward to supporting the franchise's continued expansion in Europe. What´s exciting is the huge potential I see to make American football more popular in a very attractive DACH market."
In 2021, Germany became an official "home market" for the New England Patriots through the National Football League's Global Markets Program. The Patriots recently expanded within the program to add Switzerland and Austria as additional international home markets. The Patriots have been actively growing audiences in Germany through content distribution for years and have witnessed exponential growth after acquiring German natives Sebastian Vollmer in 2009 and Jakob Johnson in 2019.
About Oliver Bierhoff:
Oliver Bierhoff is a professional footballer who accompanied the Germany national team as a manager and sports official at the German Football Association from 2004 - 2022. In addition, Bierhoff was responsible for the National Teams & Academy Directorate at the DFB from 2018 - 2022.
Before that, as a professional, he was captain of the Germany national team and star kicker of the Italian first division club AC Milan. In the 1996 European Championship final, Oliver Bierhoff scored the first Golden Goal in soccer history. He wore the jersey of the German national team in 70 senior international matches and scored 37 goals. In 1998, Oliver Bierhoff was top scorer in the Italian Seria A league and Footballer of the Year in Germany. In 1999, he won the Italian championship with AC Milan.
In 2004, Bierhoff was appointed the first manager of the German national soccer team. In this role, he accompanied and professionalized the Germany national team since 2004, with whom he was the winner of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the winner of the FIFA Confed Cup in 2017. In his role as Managing Director "National Teams & Academy", he united women's and men's soccer as well as the DFB Academy in one department under one strategy for the first time in history and launched the youth soccer program "Project Future" together with the DFL.
