The team was unveiled on September 25, 2021 as one of the new franchises for the ELF's second season. The franchise was able to adopt the name of the former team in NFL Europe (1994 to 2007) due to a March 2020 agreement between the ELF and the NFL.
The operator of Rhein Fire is Number One Sportbetriebs GmbH. Its founding shareholders are Martin Wagner, Rene Engel, and Dirk Reiner; other shareholders are Ottogerd Karasch, David Wallen, and Daniel Thywissen. The team started into it's first season with general manager Patricia Klemm and Head Coach Jim Tomsula, who was also head coach of the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe in 2006. Rhein Fire plays in the Schauinsland-Reisen Arena in Duisburg.
After a renovation period of around 6 months, the district sports facility "Wedau 2" in Duisburg was handed over to Rhein Fire on May 7th.
From now on, this sports facility will be Rhein Fire's sole training base.
The facility features permanent goal posts, a renewed floodlight system, and a new turf surface. The renovation cost approximately €1.1 million. [1]
The 2025 season saw major changes in Rhein Fire’s coaching staff.
After long-time head coach Jim Tomsula did not appear on the sideline for any games during the season and remained in the United States, the team announced that he would not return for the 2025 season. Rhein Fire parted ways with him following Week 4. The team had played only three games due to an early bye week and, for the first time in its history, held a losing record at 1–2. Defensive coordinator Richard Kent, who had already served as acting head coach during those first three games, officially took over the position.
The team also parted ways with offensive coordinator Ed Warriner due to dissatisfaction with the team’s offensive performance. For Week 5, wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator Mario Schulz stepped in as interim offensive coordinator. [2]
Fred Armstrong, who was still the active HC of the AFL team Danube Dragons at the time, was hired as the new OC before the Week 6 game at the Vikings. [3]
One day after the Championship Game, Rhein Fire announced the appointment of Max Paatz as the new General Manager. Paatz previously held the same position for the Hamburg Sea Devils. In October, the contracts of head coach Tomsula, OC Weidinger and DC Richard Kent were each extended by one year. Tomsula will also hold the title of “President” in the future, which makes him one of the main people responsible for the further development of the franchise, alongside Managing Director Max Paatz.
The regular season ended with eleven wins and one defeat. After Rhein Fire beat the Madrid Bravos in the wildcard game, who had inflicted their only defeat of the season, they also won the semi-final against the Stuttgart Surge. In the final at the Veltins-Arena in Schalke, which was attended by 41,364 people, Rhein Fire won 51:20, becoming champions of the European League of Football for the second time in a row.
One day before the final, Richard Kent was named “Assistant Coach of the Year” and Glen Toonga “MVP of the Regular Season” at the ELF Honors 2024.
In October 2022, Tom Aust replaced the previous GM Klemm. Jim Tomsula was extended as Head Coach for the 2023 season. He was supported by former Barcelona Dragons Head Coach Andrew Weidinger as Offensive Coordinator (OC).
Important players were also signed, such as Anthony Mahoungou, Glen Toonga, Alejandro Fernández and Flamur Simon. At the same time, important players such as Jadrian Clark, Nathaniel Robitaille and Martin Pinter were retained. After Nathaniel Robitaille was injured after just a few games, William Patterson was re-signed.
After going 12-0 without defeat in the regular season, the team beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 42:23 in the semi-final at home. This perfect season was crowned with a 53:34 victory in the final against Stuttgart Surge, making Rhein Fire champions of the European League of Football 2023.
Düsseldorf's Mayor Stephan Keller welcomed the team, helpers, cheerleaders and owners to City Hall on September 28, 2023. At the reception, those present signed the City of Düsseldorf's Golden Book. The team celebrated with their fans on the Düsseldorf City Hall balcony.
Rhein Fire played their first game on June 5, 2022 against the reigning ELF champions Frankfurt Galaxy. In front of a record crowd of 7525 spectators, Rhein Fire won the rematch of the German derby from the NFL Europe days with 29:26. In the first home game on June 19, 2022 against the Istanbul Rams, Fire set a spectator record itself with 7895 spectators and won the third game in a row. The first loss came on June 26, 2022 at home against the Barcelona Dragons. Besides the Dragons, the Hamburg Sea Devils were to be the only ones that Rhein Fire lost to twice in the 2022 season. Rhein Fire still stayed in the playoff race with a 23-21 win at home against the Galaxy on August 21, 2022, setting another regular-season attendance record with 12,055 spectators. However, with the Dragons failing to slip up again, Rhein Fire finished second in the Southern Conference behind Barcelona and narrowly missed the playoffs.
Patricia Klemm stepped down from her position as general manager in October 2022. Tom Aust became the new general manager.
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