People are grilling and playing cornhole by their cars. There is music. The football game starts soon, but this is not America. It’s Zurich, Switzerland, where the German-born Marc Berner is a Vice President with the AlixPartners Risk practice and–in his spare time–team manager for the AFC Bülach Ravens, in development for the National Liga C., an American football league in Switzerland.
American football had its first down in Switzerland back in the 1980s, imported by Americans living abroad, and the first Swiss Bowl took place in 1986. Marc was exposed to the game as a child through his German grandmother, who taught the children of American servicemen and women. The game has developed a substantial following in the decades since, with 30,000 attendees at European League games and NFL games quickly selling out large stadiums like Munich (70,000), Tottenham (58,000) and Frankfurt (45,000).
“In the early ‘90s, I remember I was the weirdo trying to find somewhere to watch the Super Bowl,” says Marc, who is a San Francisco 49ers fan. “Last year, I had 40 people at a Super Bowl party in my place.” He was born in 1984, the year that Joe Montana and the 49ers triumphed over Dan Marino and the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX.
Marc completed his undergraduate studies in Wales and worked in Asia before returning to Germany to obtain his Bachelor of Science in International Finance from the European School of Finance. He worked for some of the biggest consultancies, as well as for boutique firms and in industry, before joining AlixPartners. Within the Risk practice, he loves to put his analytic mind to work on complex cases that test his cultural and quantitative mettle.
Recently, he worked on a historic investigation involving handwritten documents from the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s. There was, alas, no Microsoft Excel back then, so the handwritten files had to be translated by tools and interpreted to ensure accuracy.
He has also been able to put his strategic skills to use as a coach for the Bülach Ravens. “What I really love about American football is that, due to the static nature of the game, you have a lot of data analytics and the game depends a lot on game preparation,” he explains. “It's chess with hardcore men in helmets tackling each other.”
Marc started as head coach for the Ravens before moving to the team manager position. He thrives on helping people find the game, and loves the mix of physicality and preparation. “You need to foresee what the defense is going to do and try to always be a step ahead,” he says.
The AFL is in development, but the players are shaping up and the game is coming alive. “If you watch the training now, it looks like the American football I saw growing up,” says Marc, who has watched that Super Bowl XIX game many times. (He also loves to watch soccer, rugby, and Aussie Rules–a true globalist.)
That sense of team achievement has also been key to his success at AlixPartners. “As a sports person, that team feeling is very important, and it’s absolutely different from what I had elsewhere.”
Or, as Joe Montana put it, “Especially in football, it is not a quarterback’s game, even though the media likes to make it into that. It takes the whole team.”