Teams are located in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Spain and Switzerland with plans to expand.

AFVD president Robert Huber, said, "...we have experience over the last forty years in running leagues in Germany and in Europe and we have a pretty good insight into what the teams are capable of".

However, Esume firmly believes that this league will succeed because "American football is experiencing a boom in Germany".

[5] The first two new franchises to reveal their identity were the Ingolstadt Praetorians and Hanover-based team German Knights 1367, in early December 2020.

[11] It was then announced that the franchises in Ingolstadt and Hannover were not ready to launch in 2021; they were replaced with two new teams in Leipzig and Cologne.

In June 2021, the league announced a partnership agreement with the Brazilian Football Federation, Brasil Futebol Americano, that will see exchange opportunities for selected players, coaches and officials as well as the possibility of organizing a match between the ELF and BFA champions in the future.

[13] In July 2021, the league announced its inaugural All-Star Game, which was held one week after the end of the season, on 3 October (German Unity Day), at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin.

It will feature a selection of the best players from the ELF, playing against the United States men's national American football team.

On 12 September 2021, the Vienna Vikings from the Austrian Football League announced their interest in joining the ELF in a press conference.

The Austrian rival Raiders Tirol also confirmed entry into the league the day before the first ELF final.

On 15 October 2021 the league welcomed the Istanbul Rams, finalising the field of twelve teams for the 2022 season was completed.

The record was broken in the second week by the Hamburg Sea Devils, who played a game for the first time in Volksparkstadion (capacity 57,000).

In the Wild Card Round, which was held for the first time, Frankfurt against Berlin and Stuttgart against Wroclaw used the home advantage.

Opponent in the final was Stuttgart Surge, who were able to teach the Vienna Vikings the first home defeat in the ELF with the 40–33.

The Nordic Storm, representing Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden, join the league for the 2025 season.

With QB Jadrian Clark and RB Glen Toonga, Nordic Storm signed two key players from champion Rhein Fire.

The ELF has said it hopes to bring back the excitement around American football that existed in the era of NFL Europe.

On 30 November 2021, the official Twitter account of the European League of Football announced a new kickoff rule.

Only the requirement, that the ball must be kicked between the receiving team's 20-yard line and endzone, is, at this time, not a part of the rule.

[17][18] However, the Bosman ruling prevents discrimination against EU citizens on EU-based sports teams and leagues.

Brazilian players did not count towards the import quota due to the league's partnership with Liga BFA in the 2021 season.

[19] The second tier consists of additional four transitional players (international or homegrown) with a part-time salary.

This included the Wroclaw Panthers from the Polish American Football League, and seven new franchises: the Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Hamburg Sea Devils, Leipzig Kings and Stuttgart Surge in Germany, and Barcelona Dragons in Spain.

The Kings were suspended amid the 2023 season, the Guards were replaced by the Helvetic Mercenaries in April 2024, while the Madrid Bravos joined in 2024.

[38] All games are also available worldwide, on the league's website, service originally provided by British company StreamAMG, and, from 2023, by Endeavor Streaming.