In the night from Sunday to Monday, all eyes in the sports world will be on Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. Here, at the southern end of the legendary Las Vegas Strip, the world's largest single sports event will take place: the Super Bowl. In this year's edition of the legendary National Football League (NFL) championship game, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will face off.
Fans in Germany are also eagerly anticipating this event. The SAP Arena in Mannheim is a hot spot, where around 10,000 people will turn night into day at the largest public viewing in the country. In the pre-program, a very special warm-up awaits: Starting at 8:15 pm, RTL will broadcast "American Ice Football," invented by TV mastermind Stefan Raab. About 30 celebrities divided into four teams, wearing profile-less bowling shoes and football protective gear, will chase the ball across the ice. And in the midst of it all: Pascal Hens.
The handball icon is looking forward to the frosty spectacle with the leather ball: "It's going to be a great laugh," believes the show-experienced handball world champion of 2007 and Let’s Dance winner of 2019. "I used to watch the Wok World Championship with enthusiasm. That was always fun," recalls Pascal Hens in an interview with handball-world. Now, "Pommes" will be participating himself.
As a handball player, Pascal Hens would be quasi-predestined as a quarterback, but these positions are filled by professional athletes from the Bundesliga for the show, he explains. "Probably the organizers hope that at least a bit of a game will come about this way," Pommes laughs. "As running backs and receivers, we are responsible for catching the balls." But that shouldn't be a disadvantage for him either.
Would this also be something for handball? "I think it wouldn't be easy to establish. In the end, good old handball is a blue-collar sport. But if you find a healthy mix, I would be open to it. But of course, it should still be handball."
And for him and other well-known figures from show and sport, it's all about hitting the ice this Sunday. The show event "American Ice Football" will be moderated by Elton. The commentator for the grand event is NFL expert Frank Buschmann, with field reporter Mona Stevens, quarterback for the women's football team Saarland LadyCanes and the German women's football national team, as well as an NFL expert at RTL.
Afterwards, RTL will broadcast the 58th NFL Super Bowl live in American football, with kick-off at 12:30 am German time. The halftime show around 2:00 am will feature R&B star Usher.