Seahawks fans might need to start looking into timeshares in Germany

In 2022, the Seattle Seahawks traveled to Munich, Germany, to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This marked the first time a regular season NFL game was played in the country. But there has been an active following for Seattle among German fans for decades. After the NFL announced expanded marketing rights for teams on Monday, there is a decent chance that Seattle will play another game in Germany sooner rather than later.

This is because the NFL really wants to butt its head against soccer in Europe and try to earn a little cash. Sure, having football be extremely popular in the United States (and somewhat in Canada) is great, but any successful business model should include growing the brand. As part of the NFL's Global Markets Program, NFL teams get access to specific international markets for, well...marketing purposes. This includes fan engagement possibilities and commercial activations.

The NFL granted the Seahawks the rights to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This move makes sense with the team having a relatively large fanbase in the region which includes the German Sea Hawkers which is the - and no, I am not making this up - second-largest fan chapter outside the state of Washington. So you have a little work, chapters in Idaho and Oregon, to catch up to the Germans.

Seattle Seahawks given expanded marketing rights for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

While the NFL is going to make a stadium look full when teams play in other countries (the stadiums are full but one might wonder how energized the fans are that a certain team is playing instead of just watching the spectacle of American football), Seattle did see a pretty hungry fanbase for them in Munich. Over a three-day period over the weekend of the game, more than 10,000 people reportedly visited the "Seahawks Haus" which was a pub turned into a hub for Seahawks fans.

Of course, the true way of growing a fanbase is to actually play in front of the fans more than once in forever. The NFL wants more games held overseas so it is logical that the Seahawks would play more games in Germany (or go to Austria or Switzerland). If there is money to be made, including opening a new stream of consistent revenue), the NFL is going to try to make it happen.

There is no official announcement that Seattle is going to play more games in Germany, and there likely won't be in the foreseeable future. But the team traveling to play every few years (maybe not as much as the Jacksonville Jaguars going to London 10 times already) is certainly not out of the question. You know, just in case you want to think of buying some real estate in the beautiful German countryside.

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