Things are moving for the French American football championship. On Tuesday, the French American Football Federation announced the creation of the Elite League.
Concretely: the D1 loses four teams, changes its name and strengthens its requirements for clubs.
The Black Panthers of Thonon-les-Bains, the Flash de la Courneuve, the Leopards of Rouen and the Molosses of Asnières-sur-Seine constitute the Northern Conference.
In the South, we find the Argonautes of Aix-en-Provence, the Blue Stars of Marseille, the Grizzlys Catalans of Perpignan and the Ours of Toulouse.
Present in D1 in 2025, the Cougars of Saint-Ouen l’Aumône, Diables Rouges of Villepinte, Iron Mask of Cannes and Dauphins of Nice are therefore leaving.
As a reminder, the Elite League will not be launched until 2027. This means that these teams will make one last lap in D1 during the 2026 season, which begins on February 7.
Objective: gain momentum
Officially, the idea is to strengthen competition.
“Increased minimum budget, reinforced structural constraints, obligation to have a B team engaged in D3, human resources dedicated to commercial development, improved and harmonized media distribution: the 2027 Elite League demonstrates the desire of its clubs to develop their growth strategy with a clear objective: to build an attractive product for future partners, for lifelong fans as well as for new audiences“, explains the official announcement from the FFFA.
“Its goal is to put in place the structural and economic conditions to make French American football a benchmark on the European scene. »
The objective is therefore to strengthen the structure of the French championship in a context where the ELF has arrived on the landscape.
A closed league… but not really
According to our information, this Elite League will be limited to the eight teams announced for two years. Then, an assessment will be carried out. And the door remains open to other clubs which would meet the requirements of the specifications.
