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          Seahawks to make their London debut in 2018 vs. Raiders

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          Schefter: NFL 'needs to take its business overseas' to grow (0:40)

          As the NFL schedules three London games in 2018, Adam Schefter says the best way for the NFL to grow is to stage more games overseas. (0:40)

          • Brady Henderson, ESPNJan 11, 2018, 08:15 PM
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              Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Henderson covers the Seattle Seahawks. He joined ESPN in 2017 covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM. You can follow him via Twitter @BradyHenderson.

          The Seattle Seahawks will be heading overseas in 2018.

          The NFL announced Thursday that the Seahawks are one of six teams scheduled to play in London next season as part of the league's International Series. They'll make their London debut against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, Oct. 14 at the new stadium of the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur soccer club.

          Seahawks owner Paul Allen wrote in a tweet: "#12s, the weather will be the same, but instead of coffee we'll drink tea."

          The Seahawks will be the away team against Oakland, an obvious plus as it means they'll still have their usual eight regular-season home games at CenturyLink Field.

          Seahawks-Raiders will be the first of three games in London next season after the NFL played four games there in 2017. The other two will be in Week 7 or 8 at Wembley Stadium: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans vs. Los Angeles Chargers.

          The NFL UK will announce ticket information for the Seahawks-Raiders game on Jan. 18.

          Thursday's announcement confirmed speculation that the Seahawks would be on the NFL's 2018 London slate. Alistair Kirkwood, the managing director of the NFL UK, told ESPN last fall that the six NFL teams who have yet to play in London would be candidates to do so in 2018. The Seahawks are among those six along with the the Titans, Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers.

          It'll mark the first time the Seahawks have played a regular-season game overseas. They played the Buffalo Bills in Toronto in 2012, winning 50-17. Seattle has also played a pair of preseason games outside of the United States: against the Denver Broncos in Tokyo in 1990 and against the San Francisco 49ers in Vancouver, B.C., in 1998.

          The Oct. 14 game against Oakland will be in Week 6. Given the long trip -- Seattle to London is roughly 4,800 miles -- a logical choice for the Seahawks' bye would be the following week. But teams playing in London can request to have their bye at a different time. The Jaguars, for instance, had their bye five weeks after playing in London this past season.

          The dates and times for the Seahawks' 2018 games will be announced in the spring. Home and road opponents are already known. In addition to the Raiders, Seattle will play road games against the Panthers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Broncos, 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams. They have homes games against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, 49ers, Cardinals and Rams.