NFL goes to Germany: Seven things to know about Sunday's Seahawks-Buccaneers game in Munich

The NFL hasn't expanded since adding the Houston Texans as its 32nd franchise prior to the 2002 season. However, the league's figurative footprint seems to be perpetually growing on a global scale, and those cleats will tick up another size Sunday as Germany hosts its first regular-season contest while joining – at least for the near-term future – the rotation of International Series games.

Aside from being a showdown between first-place clubs, the first time that's occurred overseas, what do you need to know about Week 10's matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – one which will be staged in Munich?

NFL NEWSLETTER: Sign up now for exclusive content sent to your inbox

Here are seven factoids:

Will the NFL become a fixture in Germany?

Too soon to know if Deutschland will earn a permanent spot on the league schedule the way United Kingdom games have, but it's getting an extended trial. Including this year, the NFL will play a game in Germany each of the next four seasons, two in Munich and two in Frankfurt. This year's game sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sale July 19.

Where will the game be played?

The Bucs, technically the home team, and 'Hawks will meet at Allianz Arena, home of the reigning Bundesliga champion, FC Bayern Munich. The 17-year-old venue's capacity flexes from 70,000 to 75,000 fans for soccer matches. The New York Giants and Jets had considered a naming rights deal with Allianz, a German financial services and insurance company, before what ultimately became MetLife Stadium opened in 2010. Ultimately, Allianz's dealings with the Nazis during World War II made any arrangement with the NFL teams' building untenable.

OBJ's NEXT TEAM? Where do Cowboys fit among 13 landing spots for free agent WR?

POWER RANKINGS: Which team cracks Top 5 after major trade deadline move?

Do the East Coast Buccaneers have a significant travel advantage over the West Coast Seahawks?

Not nearly as much as you might guess. The 'Hawks left for Germany on Wednesday, while the Buccaneers will fly late Thursday afternoon. The body clocks of Seahawks players could be slightly more impacted as they crossed nine time zones before arriving in Munich, whereas the Buccaneers will only traverse six. However, Seattle's northerly longitude is very close to Munich's, while Tampa Bay is significantly further south. So while the Bucs' flight will be roughly 5,000 miles, it's only about 300 fewer than the Seahawks'. The Buccaneers could have one slight edge given they played at home last Sunday while the Seahawks were in Arizona. Yet that could be offset by Munich's cooler climate, which much more closely approximates Seattle than Tampa. Sunday is forecast to be cloudy with a high temperature of 55 degrees.

How well do these teams perform on the international stage?

Small sample size, but Seattle is 2-0 on foreign soil – winning once in Toronto (2012) and once in London (2018) – and noteworthy that Pete Carroll was the head coach both times and has a feel for managing these odysseys. The Buccaneers are 0-3 in the International Series, all of their losses occurring in London. However ...

What's at stake for Tom Brady?

... TB12 is 3-0 in NFL games played abroad, all of them with the New England Patriots (including a 35-7 rout of Tampa Bay in 2009), the Pats winning those games by an aggregate score of 113-22. With a win, not only will Brady solidify the Buccaneers' standing atop the NFC South, he'll also become the first NFL quarterback to notch victories in four countries (USA, UK, Mexico, Germany). Brady, who has passed for at least 300 yards in his three previous international starts and was protected for seven years in New England by German-born OT Sebastian Vollmer, needs 258 more to overtake former Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles as the all-time international leader. Brady's 10 TD passes abroad are already an NFL record. He's clearly looking forward to this trip.

"The weather's gonna be a little cool, but we're playing in this very, very cool arena where Bayern Munich plays, kind of the country's top soccer team, and it looks amazing in pictures," Brady said Monday on SiriusXM's Let's Go! podcast.

"I mean the chance to go across to another country, play a sport that I love, I have heard there's 3 million ticket requests for 67,000 seats. So the place is gonna be rocking, and if it's anything like what I see in those German Bundesliga games, this is gonna be one of the epic games that we've ever played in. So I'm super excited."

What is Germany's history with American football?

As a kid who graduated from high school in Germany when the U.S. Army stationed my family there, I can tell you the locals are enthusiastic football fans – even if some of the nuances escape them, and the soccer enthusiasts get inordinately excited over punts and PATs. The 1990s World League of American Football planted its flag there with the Frankfurt Galaxy. As the WLAF evolved into NFL Europe, other franchises joined the Galaxy in Germany: Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Hamburg Sea Devils and Rhein Fire. Aside from the UK, Germany may well represent the NFL's best chance for successful international expansion should the league ever go down that road.

NATE DAVIS: Bringing NFL regular-season games to Germany could be rousing success

Where can you watch the game?

NFL Network and NFL+ will broadcast/stream Bucs-Seahawks, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday. The league-owned network's pre-game show, "NFL GameDay Morning," will begin at 7 a.m. from Munich. The "GameDay Morning" crew of Rich Eisen (play-by-play), Kurt Warner, Michael Irvin and Steve Mariucci (analysts) will then call the action with Sara Walsh and Jamie Erdahl serving as sideline reporters.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL in Germany: Seahawks-Buccaneers in Munich; future fixture in NFL?