The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the elite league of American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. The league was founded in 1984 and plays by the rules of the NCAA.

History

The AFL is commonly considered as one of the best American football leagues in Europe, hence the EFL

European Football League

The European Football League is a European Cup style tournament for European American Football teams affiliated to EFAF...

 was won by teams playing in the AFL from 2004-2009.

In 2010, 8 teams participated in the league, with 7 being from Austria and 1, the Prague Panthers

Prague Panthers

The Prague Panthers are an American football team based in Prague, Czech Republic. The Prague Panthers are one of the most successful team in Eastern Europe, having been named the Champions of the Czech Republic 12 times...

 from the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

.

The regular season consists of 6 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. The most recent edition, Austrian Bowl XXVI, was played in Innsbruck, Austria.

Teams

In 2011 the AFL consisted of 7 teams:

• Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna
• Turek Graz Giants
• Swarco Raiders Tirol
  Swarco Raiders Tirol
  The Swarco Raiders Tirol, is a semi-professional American football club based in Innsbruck, Austria. Founded in 1992, the Raiders since has become one of Austria's and Europe's most dominant American Football clubs, winning the Eurobowl title three times and the EFAF Cup once...
  
  
• Danube Dragons
• Carinthian Black Lions
• Salzburg Bulls
• Prague Panthers
  Prague Panthers
  The Prague Panthers are an American football team based in Prague, Czech Republic. The Prague Panthers are one of the most successful team in Eastern Europe, having been named the Champions of the Czech Republic 12 times...
  
  

Austrian Bowl

Austrian Bowl Champion	Teams
10x	Turek Graz Giants, Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna
2x	Swarco Raiders Tirol, Salzburg Bulls
1x	Danube Dragons, Feldkirch Oscar Dinos