MUNICH — In an effort to grow the National Hockey League’s popularity in Germany, the league and soccer giant FC Bayern Munich announced on Thursday a multiyear partnership and four more regular-season NHL games on German soil in the coming years.The NHL will play two regular-season games featuring the Boston Bruins in Munich during the 2027-28 season, plus two more featuring the Edmonton Oilers in Leon Draisaitl’s hometown of Cologne.Those will follow two games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators in Düsseldorf in December 2026.The first-of-its-kind partnership between the NHL and Bayern Munich was the product of a six-month negotiation that saw senior leaders from the organizations regularly crisscross the Atlantic to work through the potential for collaboration on co-branding, content, merchandise and whatever else they could think of.The multiyear partnership with Bayern and additional NHL games come at a time when the league is mounting a concerted push in the German market, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly believes his league can learn from the country’s sporting standard-bearer.“This isn’t just a team,” Daly said. “This is like 60 percent of the people in Germany are Bayern fans.”There was no template to work from for a strategic alliance between a professional sports league and a club that plays another sport on another continent. That made for an unlikely scene inside Bayern’s headquarters Thursday morning, when Daly sat alongside Kasper for a news conference conducted concurrently in German and English, then presented him with a replica Stanley Cup and gave way for Bayern star Alphonso Davies to join German-born NHLers Draisaitl and JJ Peterka on stage.The gathering reinforced the possibilities for the world’s top hockey league and one of soccer’s marquee clubs.Rouven Kasper, Bayern’s chief marketing officer, is a member of FC Bayern’s board and oversees the club’s national and international marketing and sales. He was drawn to the NHL’s strong following abroad and believes the partnership will allow the team to expand its reach, which it currently pegs at 1.1 billion followers.