Nicole Raz
WMAL
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (WMAL) — It wasn’t just Washingtonians who were celebrating the last minute victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. There’s a growing number of football and Redskins fans in Europe–including Austria.
“Kirk Cousins is good, but he’s not as talented as RG3 was,” says an Austrian fan.
A private Austrian TV station, Puls4, started airing weekly Sunday Night Football about two years ago, sparking a need for football sports bars.
“We started with just four or five and now we are packed,” says the owner of Cafe Benno in Vienna, adding that he’s even started taking reservations for Sunday nights.
Austrian football fans say they like the sport for its roughness and watching game plans play out.
“It reminds me little bit of chess, but on a field, ” says Austrian New Orleans Saints fan Bernhard Golser.
They also say they like that the games are long.
“In our football, which is called soccer, it is 45-minutes straight. So all of the time-outs is very different,” says Austrian Oakland Raiders fan, Gerhard Eichholzer.
But long games also mean lots of commercials.
“They’re always the same commercials” Golser said. “Sports in Europe doesn’t have so many commercial breaks, there are so many commercials in Football: Southwest Airlines, Papa Johns, a little bit of Dominos, sleeping bills, things against snoring.”
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