MUNICH, Germany — When the Seattle Seahawks play the NFL's first-ever regular season game in Germany on Sunday, there will be a strong following of German fans in attendance who have grown to love the team.
It's an unexpected fan base for Seattle. But one that is growing by leaps and bounds.
"We've been steadily growing, especially with the London game a few years ago," said Lukas Spiess, the chapter President of the German SeaHawkers.
The German SeaHawkers is one of nine international fan clubs sanctioned by the Seattle Seahawks franchise.
The club was founded in 2016 and today has grown to about 1,800 members in Germany.
Spiess has been to eight Seahawks games over the years. Most recently leading a group of 50 German SeaHawkers to the season opener in Seattle against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos.
"I think in the beginning it was just a bunch of weird people following a foreign sport and looking for like-minded people online," Spiess said.
Spiess, 31, who lives in Germany as a software engineer for Microsoft, said he fell in love with the team in around 2013 when the team made its Super Bowl run.
"I just think it's a unique team with a lot of different personalities you can relate with," Spiess said. "Soccer is not going to be replaced anytime soon as the main sport. But if football keeps growing at this pace, the sky's the limit."