International Series

[RiverDog]

I'm hearing a lot of rumors that we will be playing in Munich, Germany on Nov. 13th. The Tampa Bay Bucs are the host team, and they're on our schedule as a road game. Last night on our local TV news, someone said that they saw John Schneider studying German, and there's lots of scuttlebutt around the VMAC that we're heading to Munich. There's also a possibility that we could be playing in London, as the Saints are the host team, or Mexico City, where the Cards are scheduled to host a game.

They'll announce the teams involved in the international series on May 4th. I'm already looking at airline itineraries.

[NorthHawk]

I'm hearing a lot of rumors that we will be playing in Munich, Germany on Nov. 13th. The Tampa Bay Bucs are the host team, and they're on our schedule as a road game. Last night on our local TV news, someone said that they saw John Schneider studying German, and there's lots of scuttlebutt around the VMAC that we're heading to Munich. There's also a possibility that we could be playing in London, as the Saints are the host team, or Mexico City, where the Cards are scheduled to host a game.

They'll announce the teams involved in the international series on May 4th. I'm already looking at airline itineraries.

I would rather he studied potential draft picks instead.

[trents]

I'm just not keen on international game travel. The season is already too long and the bodies of the players are already overtaxed without that extra travel. The NFL wants to expand it's market footprint to make more $$$. The league eventually wants to have teams in Europe.

The other day Adam Silver was bemoaning how so many of the top players in the NBA were not available for the playoffs. Hurts in the pocket you know as fewer fans watch when the star are not on the floor. He acted perplexed why so many stars were injured and not available for the playoffs or at least missing major parts of them. "We've got to figure this out," he commented. Duh! Not such a mystery. Too many games too close together, season too long.

[curmudgeon]

I would rather he studied potential draft picks instead.

[RiverDog]

I'm just not keen on international game travel. The season is already too long and the bodies of the players are already overtaxed without that extra travel. The NFL wants to expand it's market footprint to make more $$$. The league eventually wants to have teams in Europe.

The other day Adam Silver was bemoaning how so many of the top players in the NBA were not available for the playoffs. Hurts in the pocket you know as fewer fans watch when the star are not on the floor. He acted perplexed why so many stars were injured and not available for the playoffs or at least missing major parts of them. "We've got to figure this out," he commented. Duh! Not such a mystery. Too many games too close together, season too long.

For me, I use it as an opportunity to travel. My wife has MS, RA along with a natural reluctance to travel or be around large crowds. I try to do two road games per season along with a traveling companion of mine that has a goal of seeing the Hawks in every NFL venue.

We did our London game a few years ago, spent a week there, cruised the Thames, spent a day in Ireland. We were astounded at how many people follow the sport. On NFL Sunday prior to the game, we counted jerseys from all 32 NFL teams, some people diehard fans of the team, others just buying it because they liked the colors. We met people that had driven several hundred miles, people that belonged to Seahawk clubs and participated in forums like this one. It was an awesome experience that every football fan needs to do.

Ideally, the 17th game will be utilized as a neutral venue game, that each team will be required to play a game at an out of market stadium, so in addition to the international series, they could play games in cities like Boise, Salt Lake, Birmingham, Honolulu, Vancouver BC, Oklahoma City, etc.
The first NFL game I ever saw was in 1970 or '71, Albi Stadium, Spokane, an exhibition game between the Niners and Broncos. NFL teams used to use preseason games as a way to get their product to people that wouldn't have access to it otherwise.

I don't think the league has a future overseas in the near future. They can easily schedule one game per team per season as the can use the bye week to offset the inherent problems with intercontinental travel, but it would be very difficult to integrate cities like London and maintain some type of fairness with scheduling. Until they re-introduce supersonic commercial air travel, which is at least a decade away, it's not going to happen.

[NorthHawk]

It seems to me (but I haven't really thought it through) that if they added a 2nd bye week they might be able to make a workable schedule.
The problems would be for the European teams though as they would have 8 road games to plan, and what would happen in a playoff scenario.
If most of their games were against East Coast teams it wouldn't be so bad but again the playoff issue would be difficult to overcome.

[RiverDog]

It seems to me (but I haven't really thought it through) that if they added a 2nd bye week they might be able to make a workable schedule.

The problems would be for the European teams though as they would have 8 road games to plan, and what would happen in a playoff scenario.
If most of their games were against East Coast teams it wouldn't be so bad but again the playoff issue would be difficult to overcome.

Agreed. You'd have to have an entire division over there to make it work. The league has an almost perfect number of teams, with an equal number of teams in each division and an equal number of divisions in each conference.

When we were in London for the Hawks/Raiders game, we went to a pregame rally hosted by the Seahawks at a large watering hole in downtown London. We shared a table with a couple of German gals, in their 20's-early 30, spoke perfect English, were avid Seahawk fans, and had flown in for the game. I'm not sure if there's enough interest in the sport to support multiple teams, but it's more than enough to justify expanding the international series.

[RiverDog]

The rumors are true. They just announced that we're playing Tampa Bay in Munich on Nov. 13th:

The Seahawks and Buccaneers will play in Munich on November 13 in the first regular season NFL game in Germany. The game, which will kick off at 6:30 a.m. PT, will be played at Allianz Arena.

https://www.seahawks.com/news/internati ... er-13-2022

I already have my airline tickets.

[c_hawkbob]

At least it counts as an away gem so we don't lose any home games.

[RiverDog]

At least it counts as an away gem so we don't lose any home games.

Yes, but that's going to change soon. The league is going to require each team to host an international game within a certain time frame.

[NorthHawk]

Another way to piss off the fan base - losing a home game.
Do you think the season ticket holders will get a discount the year they lose a home game to overseas commitments?

From the NFL side, the more interest they have outside of NA, the more revenue they can get from foreign sources.

[RiverDog]

Another way to piss off the fan base - losing a home game.
Do you think the season ticket holders will get a discount the year they lose a home game to overseas commitments?

From the NFL side, the more interest they have outside of NA, the more revenue they can get from foreign sources.

They have a plan that will make it equitable, and with the 17 game schedule, fans don't really lose a home game.

Across the next eight years, the NFL will select four teams set to host nine regular season games to host a game internationally. In 2022, it will be four NFC teams and then four AFC teams in 2023. It will rotate back and forth between the conferences, and every NFL team will host at least one contest every eight years.

The UK and Mexico will continue to be part of the schedule. However, the NFL could also look to add Germany, as well as returning to Canada. Teams will still be able to protect certain games on their schedule from being selected, and no team will be required to play more than one game internationally in a single season. A team, however, can volunteer themselves to play multiple games.

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl- ... ates-more/

[Hawktawk]

Looks like the NFL picked a perceived patsy to play against the GOAT a zillion miles away . I’m not in favor of this international stuff . It may grow the brand but it’s a hurdle not every team has to jump through so it’s not fair from a competetive standpoint . Germans and Brit’s etc can watch on TV or visit here . Or Name it the IFL.

[RiverDog]

Looks like the NFL picked a perceived patsy to play against the GOAT a zillion miles away . I’m not in favor of this international stuff . It may grow the brand but it’s a hurdle not every team has to jump through so it’s not fair from a competetive standpoint . Germans and Brit’s etc can watch on TV or visit here . Or Name it the IFL.

When they first started playing in London back in 2013, I was much like you. Let the Europeans get their own damn football. With apologies to our neighbors to the north, it's almost exclusively an American endeavor, so if you want to see it, come to America.

But that was before I went and saw our game in London vs. the Raiders back in 2018. We had a blast! The Brits were very friendly, asked intelligent questions about the rules and procedures, and turned out in droves for the game. On Sunday, we saw an NFL jersey for all 32 teams. And for me personally, it's a great way to see the world. This will be only my 3rd trip to continental Europe, and I intend on making the most of it.

The other thing I like is getting an extra game on Sunday as playing in Europe opens up the 6:30am time slot.

But regardless of our personal feelings, the international series is here to stay, so we might as well enjoy it. They certainly aren't going to eliminate it because a few grumpy west coast fans don't want to haul their butts out of bed at 6:30am.

[Hawktawk]

I recall the game . We whipped up on the raiders as I recall . Russ had a good game . My attitude is what it is . I despise flying and will never fly to Europe . It’s a burden not all teams have to endure . It’s not happened but I worry about a terror attack at some point but I guess that’s everywhere . I just have a hard time believing spending all the time traveling halfway around the world is good for a team but what’s good for the teams and players is not the most important to Goodell.Fans either . I have a friend die hard Raiders fan who was going to attend the game till it was moved to London as part of the schedule . Guys a lifer like us but nowhere near the Jack to fly to Europe ..pist don’t describe his attitude .


I’ll be tuned in to the Hawks of course . Goodell is like a weatherman . Right half the time .

[RiverDog]

I recall the game . We whipped up on the raiders as I recall . Russ had a good game . My attitude is what it is . I despise flying and will never fly to Europe . It’s a burden not all teams have to endure . It’s not happened but I worry about a terror attack at some point but I guess that’s everywhere . I just have a hard time believing spending all the time traveling halfway around the world is good for a team but what’s good for the teams and players is not the most important to Goodell.Fans either . I have a friend die hard Raiders fan who was going to attend the game till it was moved to London as part of the schedule . Guys a lifer like us but nowhere near the Jack to fly to Europe ..pist don’t describe his attitude.

Yeah, we beat them solidly, had Derek Carr in tears.

The 17th game is essentially a bonus game that you get every other year, and you're only losing it once every 8 seasons unless your team opts to play more international games. That doesn't sound like a huge sacrifice to me.

I have zero sympathy for the players having to travel overseas once a season. They're getting paid millions to endure that first class treatment for 6-7 hours. So long as they're able to give them their bye week following an overseas game, I see no reason that teams can't tolerate the very minor inconvenience of an extended road trip.

[Hawktawk]

I

The 17th game is essentially a bonus game that you get every other year, and you're only losing it once every 8 seasons unless your team opts to play more international games. That doesn't sound like a huge sacrifice to me.

I have zero sympathy for the players having to travel overseas once a season. They're getting paid millions to endure that first class treatment for 6-7 hours. So long as they're able to give them their bye week following an overseas game, I see no reason that teams can't tolerate the very minor inconvenience of an extended road trip.

Once again you shockingly don’t pick up what I’m putting down . As a fan of the Seahawks team I don’t like that this is our year right now. This makes my lifelong teams job harder next year .


playing in November when every everyone is beat up and tired already halfway around the world in a country the games never been played in . Unfamiliar surroundings . Playing against a quarterback with as many playoff starts as most QBs have starts . A coronation of King Brady . Watch the refs by the way when you’re Seattle you always have to but …….. if you don’t see the setup you’re blind but I’ve made the accusation before .

I hate this game being overseas in Germany . Bulls#t. Despise Goodell.

[RiverDog]

The 17th game is essentially a bonus game that you get every other year, and you're only losing it once every 8 seasons unless your team opts to play more international games. That doesn't sound like a huge sacrifice to me.

I have zero sympathy for the players having to travel overseas once a season. They're getting paid millions to endure that first class treatment for 6-7 hours. So long as they're able to give them their bye week following an overseas game, I see no reason that teams can't tolerate the very minor inconvenience of an extended road trip.

Once again you shockingly don’t pick up what I’m putting down . As a fan of the Seahawks team I don’t like that this is our year right now. This makes my lifelong teams job harder next year.

playing in November when every everyone is beat up and tired already halfway around the world in a country the games never been played in . Unfamiliar surroundings . Playing against a quarterback with as many playoff starts as most QBs have starts . A coronation of King Brady . Watch the refs by the way when you’re Seattle you always have to but …….. if you don’t see the setup you’re blind but I’ve made the accusation before .

I hate this game being overseas in Germany . Bulls#t. Despise Goodell.

Oh, I get exactly where you're coming from. You're a whiny, spoiled rotten Seahawks fan. Check out the Jags. They've been giving up a home game and have played overseas every season since 2013, the lone exception being in 2020 during the pandemic. We've played overseas just once, one of the last teams to do so, and have not and will not be giving up a home game until our turn comes in the rotation.

It's no different of a problem than any other team has to face. Besides, playing it in the 2nd week of November gives us our bye later in the season, which should be an advantage. Even if I agreed that it's a handicap, it's best we get it over with this season.

I get that you don't like it, but you might as well get used to it as the international series is here to stay and likely to be expanded. Looking into my crystal ball, I can see the league playing games in Japan, Australia, perhaps South America.

I'm not sure why you're using Goodell as your voodoo doll. He doesn't even have a vote. It's the owners that have created the international series.

[Hawktawk]

I’m a real lifelong team first Seahawks fan that doesn’t like my team being bent over . If that’s whining and spoiled to you you’re a willing rube . This is another example . Goodell gets a vote in everything . So what if it is the billionaire owners lining their pockets at the expense of the guy in Tampa who is a lifelong Seahawks fan . Like my raider buddy who have supported the team for decades who get a chance maybe once every 10 years or less to watch their team live but oh well . Let’s please a bunch of Krauts instead .

It’s stupid . Not designed to do anything but screw loyal AMERICAN fans. And I know it isn’t stopping duh . I don’t have to like it. Never did and never will.

[Hawktawk]

Watch the refs

[RiverDog]

I’m a real lifelong team first Seahawks fan that doesn’t like my team being bent over . If that’s whining and spoiled to you you’re a willing rube . This is another example . Goodell gets a vote in everything . So what if it is the billionaire owners lining their pockets at the expense of the guy in Tampa who is a lifelong Seahawks fan . Like my raider buddy who have supported the team for decades who get a chance maybe once every 10 years or less to watch their team live but oh well . Let’s please a bunch of Krauts instead .

It’s stupid . Not designed to do anything but screw loyal AMERICAN fans. And I know it isn’t stopping duh . I don’t have to like it. Never did and never will.

Bent over? Like we're the only team that has to travel overseas. Be thankful that they haven't put a couple of franchises in Europe or we could be traveling across the pond multiple times during the season, including the playoffs. So long as they are able to schedule teams with a bye the following week, no one's going to be put at a disadvantage.

Besides, the Seahawks are the 2nd most popular team in Germany:

The Seahawks are the second most popular NFL team in Germany, according to a news release from the Seahawks. The team said the German Sea Hawkers chapter has more than 1,300 members, representing about 10-percent of Sea Hawkers worldwide.

"I'm very excited for everyone," said Seahawks linebacker Aaron Donkor in a statement provided by the Seahawks. Donkor is from Aachen, Germany and joined the Seahawks last season as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program. "It's exciting for the team, for Seahawks fans, for NFL fans in Germany."

https://www.king5.com/article/sports/se ... 0worldwide.

Combine that with our fan base traveling as well as it does and the fact that Tampa Bay has one of the worst fan bases in the league (Yardbarker has them ranked 28th), don't be surprised if it turns into a home game atmosphere for us. Then we can listen to Tampa Bay fans whine because they had to surrender home field advantage to us.

[NorthHawk]

Home game or not it’s a far longer trip for us than for an East Coast team.
Add in being in the middle of a rebuild and facing a probable playoff team
it’s going to take a big effort to win or maybe even be competitive.

[RiverDog]

Home game or not it’s a far longer trip for us than for an East Coast team.

No, it isn't, not from Tampa. You're looking at a flat map instead of a globe.

The estimated flight time from Seattle to Munich is 11 hours and 4 minutes. From Tampa to Munich it's 10 hours and 29 minutes. 35 minutes difference on a 10+ hour trip is insignificant.

https://www.travelmath.com/flying-time/ ... h,+Germany

Add in being in the middle of a rebuild and facing a probable playoff team it’s going to take a big effort to win or maybe even be competitive.

Given what I said in my reply to HT and considering that the Bucs wouldn't have to travel at all and we'd still have to travel 5 hours and deal with a 3 hour time change when they'd be sleeping in their own beds on their own biological alarm clocks, we have a MUCH better chance of beating the Bucs in Munich than we would on their home field in Tampa.

Seriously, you guys need to quit the hand wringing. The only game we've played overseas was a huge success, both on the field and off. I expect this game to be much like the one I attended in London.

[NorthHawk]

I didn’t realize the time it takes to go from TB to Munich. Thanks.

We had much better teams when we went to London than we do today and I think
opponents who weren’t as good as the Bucs should be this year.

[Hawktawk]

I didn’t realize the time it takes to go from TB to Munich. Thanks.

We had much better teams when we went to London than we do today and I think
opponents who weren’t as good as the Bucs should be this year.

Russ was better by far in 2018 and Carson was healthy then . It doesn’t matter . hate the series like lots of stuff goody two shoes does at the behest of his billionaire handlers .

[RiverDog]

I didn’t realize the time it takes to go from TB to Munich. Thanks.

Yeah, sometimes being north has its advantages.

We had much better teams when we went to London than we do today and I think opponents who weren’t as good as the Bucs should be this year.

That may or may not be true. We'll have to wait until the season develops before we can determine what the relative strengths between the two teams are. Remember, this is going to be Week 10, over halfway through the regular season. Who knows what both us and the Bucs will look like.

Besides, that's not the point. The point is that for all the reasons I've mentioned above, we stand a much better chance of winning it because it's being played in Munich vs. the original plan to play in Tampa Bay. You and Hawktalk should be doing backflips and cartwheels at our good fortune, not wringing your hands like a jilted lover.

[Hawktawk]

Interesting fact I read just now. The Seahawks are going to Germany and will travel more miles than any other team this year, 29,446 miles.
Goody's favorite owner Rooney's team will travel 6442 miles and never leave the eastern time zone.

Well they are breaking in a new QB dont want to make it too tough.
Oh I'm a whining selfish fan. I forgot.

[NorthHawk]

Besides, that's not the point. The point is that for all the reasons I've mentioned above, we stand a much better chance of winning it because it's being played in Munich vs. the original plan to play in Tampa Bay. You and Hawktalk should be doing backflips and cartwheels at our good fortune, not wringing your hands like a jilted lover.

I’m choked because the game is scheduled to start at 6am.

[Hawktawk]

Yes that’s another issue .

[RiverDog]

Interesting fact I read just now. The Seahawks are going to Germany and will travel more miles than any other team this year, 29,446 miles.
Goody's favorite owner Rooney's team will travel 6442 miles and never leave the eastern time zone.

Well they are breaking in a new QB dont want to make it too tough.
Oh I'm a whining selfish fan. I forgot.

Come on, Hawktalk. You're smarter than that. We've logged more total travel miles than any other team in the league since 1976. It's due to the fact that we are in a relatively sparsely populated part of the country, not because we're one of 8 teams playing in an international game. You're worse at geography than DJT.

Answer me this: The Bucs are having to take a 10 hour and 25 minute plane flight to face us in Munich in what is a home game for them. How long of a plane flight would they be taking to play us if the game was not part of the international series?

[RiverDog]

I’m choked because the game is scheduled to start at 6am.

Kickoff is at 6:30 PST, so you can hit the snooze bar a couple of times. Besides, if it's that big of a problem for you, just record it on your DVR.

[NorthHawk]

It’s not the same. Drinking beer at 7am isn’t a good look.

[RiverDog]

It’s not the same. Drinking beer at 7am isn’t a good look.

As if drinking beer at 10:00am is a lot better look?