Austrian Football League
The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the elite league of American football in Austria. The league was founded in 1984 and plays by the rules of the NCAA.
Sport | American football |
---|---|
Founded | 1984 |
No. of teams | 8 |
Country | Austria Czech Republic |
Most recent champion(s) | Swarco Raiders Tirol |
Most titles | Vienna Vikings (14) |
Official website |
History
The AFL was founded in 1984 by the teams Salzburg Lions, Graz Giants and Vienna Ramblocks.
The AFL is commonly considered as one of the best American football leagues in Europe. Especially in the period from 2004 to 2011, when the EFL was won seven of eight times by an AFL team.[1]
In 2010, the Prague Panthers from the Czech Republic joined the league as first team outside of Austria. The Panthers were member of the AFL until the 2016 season. In 2016, the Ljubljana Silverhawks from Slovenia and in 2018, the Bratislava Monarchs from Slovakia entered the AFL.
The regular season consists of ten games and starts in mid March and the playoffs continue through July. The final game is called the Austrian Bowl and was held for the first time in 1984 in Salzburg, Austria.
Teams

In 2019, the AFL consisted of:
- Vienna Vikings
- Graz Giants
- Swarco Raiders Tirol
- Danube Dragons
- Prague Black Panthers
- AFC Rangers
- Amstetten Thunder
- Steelsharks Traun
Austrian Bowl
All games
Bowl | Date | Champions | Runners-Up | Score | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | October 20, 1984 | Salzburg Lions | Graz Giants | 27–10 | Salzburg |
II | June 28, 1986 | Graz Giants | Vienna Vikings | 31–12 | Salzburg |
III | July 5, 1987 | Graz Giants | Salzburg Lions | 20–0 | ASKÖ Schmelz, Vienna |
IV | July 3, 1988 | Graz Giants | Vienna Vikings | 33–15 | ASKÖ Schmelz, Vienna |
V | July 1, 1989 | Salzburg Lions | Graz Giants | 34–0 | Salzburg |
VI | July 1, 1990 | Graz Giants | Klosterneuburg Mercenaries | 59–7 | Linz |
VII | July 7, 1991 | Graz Giants | Vienna Vikings | 38–7 | ASKÖ Eggenberg, Graz |
VIII | July 5, 1992 | Graz Giants | Schwarzenau Rangers | 28–13 | ASKÖ Schmelz, Vienna |
IX | July 4, 1993 | Feldkirch Oscar Dinos | Salzburg Bulls | 45–10 | BSZ Südstadt, Maria Enzersdorf |
X | July 4, 1994 | Vienna Vikings | Levi's Graz Giants | 45–23 | Schwechat-Rannersdorf |
XI | July 15, 1995 | Levi's Graz Giants | Vienna Vikings | 26–20 | Schwechat-Rannersdorf |
XII | July 13, 1996 | Vienna Vikings | Levi's Graz Giants | 41–35 | Schwechat-Rannersdorf |
XIII | July 12, 1997 | Levi's Graz Giants | Klosterneuburg Mercenaries | 35–14 | Schwechat-Rannersdorf |
XIV | July 18, 1998 | Levi's Graz Giants | Vienna Vikings | 43–3 | BSZ Südstadt, Maria Enzersdorf |
XV | July 20, 1999 | Chrysler Vikings | Levi's Graz Giants | 37–35 | Schwechat-Rannersdorf |
XVI | July 22, 2000 | Chrysler Vikings | Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders | 34–28 | Casino Stadion Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XVII | July 21, 2001 | Chrysler Vikings | Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders | 24–14 | Lindenstadion, Eisenstadt |
XVIII | July 20, 2002 | Chrysler Vikings | Öko-Box Graz Giants | 52–21 | Casino Stadion Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XIX | July 12, 2003 | Chrysler Vikings | Öko-Box Graz Giants | 56–42 | Casino Stadion Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XX | July 17, 2004 | Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders | Chrysler Vikings | 28–20 | EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim, Salzburg |
XXI | July 16, 2005 | Chrysler Vikings | Papa Joe's Tyrolean Raiders | 43–14 | Südstadt, Maria Enzersdorf |
XXII | July 14, 2006 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Dodge Vikings | 43–19 | Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XXIII | July 14, 2007 | Dodge Vikings | Turek Graz Giants | 42–14 | Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XXIV | June 27, 2008 | Turek Graz Giants | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 31–21 | Wolfsberg |
XXV | July 18, 2009 | Raiffeisen Vikings | Turek Graz Giants | 22–19 | Graz |
XXVI | July 9, 2010 | Danube Dragons | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 28–21 | Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck |
XXVII | June 23, 2011 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Raiffeisen Vikings | 23–13 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna |
XXVIII | July 28, 2012 | Raiffeisen Vikings | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 48–34 | Hohe Warte, Vienna |
XXIX | July 27, 2013 | Raiffeisen Vikings | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 48–31 | NV Arena, Sankt Pölten |
XXX | July 26, 2014 | Raiffeisen Vikings | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 24–17 | NV Arena, Sankt Pölten |
XXXI | July 11, 2015 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Vienna Vikings | 38–0 | Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt |
XXXII | July 23, 2016 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Graz Giants | 51–7 | Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt |
XXXIII | July 29, 2017 | Dacia Vienna Vikings | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 45–26 | Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt |
XXXIV | July 21, 2018 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Dacia Vienna Vikings | 51–48 | NV Arena, Sankt Pölten |
XXXV | July 27, 2019 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | Dacia Vienna Vikings | 42–34 | NV Arena, Sankt Pölten |
By Team
Rank | Teams | Champions | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Vienna Vikings | 14 | 11 |
2 | Graz Giants | 10 | 10 |
3 | Swarco Raiders Tirol | 7 | 9 |
4 | Salzburg Bulls | 2 | 2 |
5 | Danube Dragons[1] | 1 | 2 |
6 | Feldkirch Oscar Dinos | 1 | 0 |
^ 1: Formerly known as Klosterneuburg Mercenaries