Sweden’s highest American Football division, the Super Serien, kicks off this weekend! The Super Serien is introducing an 8-team format in 2024, making this season a must-see attraction to anyone interested in European American Football.
The Super Serien schedule will play a crucial part in determining the success of teams. The 2024 schedule is only seven games, with teams playing each other only once. Travel schedule will also play a factor, since the Oslo Vikings from Norway will also be competing in the league.
The 2024 Super Serien will return last year’s Back-to-Back Champions, the Stockholm Mean Machines, and their rivals in the Tyresö Royal Crowns, Carlstad Crusaders, and Örebro Black Knights. Last year’s undefeated 2023 Division 1 Champions, the Limhamn Griffins, will join the Super Serien as well. The Kristianstad Predators and AIK also have moved up from Division 1 to compete in Sweden’s top league. The aforementioned Olso Vikings, Norway’s 2023 Elite Division Champions, round out the league at eight total teams.
2024 Super Serien is Different
The 2024 season brings a lot of changes for Sweden’s premier league. The inclusion of eight teams has reinvigorated the competitive nature of all players, coaches, and fans in Sweden. The league has ensured this competition remains throughout the entire season, allowing the top six teams to compete in the playoffs. This will allow all teams in the league to fight until the very end for playoff spots and preferred seeding.
The association, SWE3, has made preparations to have every Super Serien game televised on their streaming subscription service SWE3 Play. This will allow the entire world to watch the new format team on a weekly basis. To provide even more exposure to the league, Pro Football Sweden has started a podcast to keep fans updated with the happenings of the league all season long!
The Schedule is Action Packed
As great as the 8-team league is, games still have to be played, and not all matchups are created equal. Here is a look at some of the better matchups expected to be played each week, based on the available preseason information.
APRIL 6, TRAVEL BACK TO 2021
If you are a fan of football, this game will give you everything you need. These two teams have a long history against each other, but the Mean Machines have lost a Super Serien game in 2 years! The time the Stockholm team lost was in the 2021 Super Serien Final, to the Örebro Black Knights!! You might think that’s not important, but the 2021 Black Knights Head Coach, Sam Eisenstadt, has returned to Örebro to replicate his team’s previous success. It’s a great storyline that will playout in the first game of the Super Serien season, making this a must-watch matchup. Let’s not forget that the Stockholm Mean Machines are Back-to-Back champions and will try to set the tone as the team to beat once again in Sweden. The anticipation for this game is through the roof!
APRIL 14, REVENGE IS BEST SERVED COLD
The Oslo Vikings have never beaten the Örebro Black Knights, and they know it. Last year the two teams met twice during the Scandinavian Cup. In Oslo, the Vikings put up a good fight, losing 21-13, but were crushed 37-7 when the team traveled to Örebro. Both teams are expected to be much improved from last year’s teams, so this is a game to mark on you calendars.
MAY 4, NORTH VERSUS SOUTH
There is a regional separation in Sweden that has long been an excuse for “South” teams not to participate in the Super Serien because of travel times & expenses. It’s also rumored that Southern Sweden teams produce the best players, who often times leave to play for Super Serien teams.
This is all speculation, but now can be proven or disproven as the Limhamn Griffins represent the best team of the “South”. Tyresö has alway been a talented team, and typically can win games against lesser opponents because they have so much talent to utilize. That makes them the perfect measuring stick for the Griffin in the Super Serien.
Win or lose, how these two teams compare will set the tone for the rest of the league. If Limhamn is able to go toe to toe or event defeat the Royal Crowns, they will prove they belong in the Super Serien and the “South” is just as good as the north. If Tyresö beats up on the Griffins like a little brother, status quo will become evident that the “South” still has work to do. This game will be a great show of parity in the country of Sweden.
JUNE 8, BYE WEEK CHALLENGE
Week 10: Stockholm Mean Machines vs Tyresö Royal Crowns
This matcup is quite presumptuous, but it’s a great job by the league to make every week count. Whoever wins this game is expected to be in 1st or 2nd place in the Super Serien. Without making too many assumptions, it’s logically to believe that both teams will be somewhere in the top 4 teams, meaning the game will separate them from each other by giving one team a higher seed and possibly a bye week in the playoffs. It is also completely possible that these two teams will both be undefeated in week 10 making this matchup one of the best in Europe.
These two teams competed in the Super Serien final last season, and it’s a great move to have them play the final week instead of the customary opening weekend game that is usually not an accurate representation of the team by season’s end. If both squads play to the level expected of them, we could see one of the greatest regular season finals in the Super Serien.
JUNE 8, NOT DIVISION 1 ANYMORE
Week 10: Kristianstad Predators vs Limhamn Griffins
It would be irresponsible to assume what these two teams will look like by the last week of the regular season. But what can be assumed is that neither organization has forgotten their last meeting in the 2023 Division 1 season, in which the Limhamn Griffins came out victorious by a close score of 42-43. Both teams have to assume that they “should” have won that game, meaning neither will feel like an underdog in week 10 for sure.
No matter where these two teams are in the Super Serien standings, come week 10 they will both want to prove they are the better Super Serien team. The already established rivalry could see the next evolution if the teams are evenly matched and make it a closely contested game. This game is a must watch to see how Division 1 teams have developed throughout an entire Super Serien season.
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