Seattle Seahawks Will Rack Up Frequent Flyer Miles In 2024

As per usual, the Seattle Seahawks will be one of the teams traveling the most this season.

Jan 7, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) throws in the / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

With all the chaos of Wednesday's NFL schedule release, one tidbit that may get lost in the shuffle is how much each team will travel throughout the season.

Travel can be a huge factor in a team's season. After all, time spent in the air is necessary for any professional sports team, but the less time traveling, the more time there is for practice and other activities. Not to mention that so much time on a plane can really take a toll on players.

Fair or unfair, the Seattle Seahawks are usually among the teams that travel the most miles in any given season, and 2024 is no exception, in large part due to the their isolated location in the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) pulls in a touchdown past Tennessee Titans cornerback / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA

According to Bill Speros of Bookies.com, the Seahawks will travel a grand total of 25,797 miles this season, the third-most in the NFL. The only teams who will travel more miles than the Seahawks are the Los Angeles Chargers (26,803) and Miami Dolphins (25,869). For reference, the distance around the Earth at the equator is 24,901 miles.

The Seahawks will also travel across 28 time zones this season, tied with the San Francisco 49ers and behind only the Chargers (36) and Las Vegas Raiders (34).

Unfortunately, west-coast teams are at a natural disadvantage when it comes to travel distance by the very nature of the league's geography. There are 17 teams in the Eastern Time Zone, eight teams in the Central Time Zone, two in the Mountain Time Zone and five in the Pacific Time Zone. The Arizona Cardinals are counted in the Mountain Time Zone in that list, but they're in a weird situation as most of the state doesn't observe daylight saving time.

As a result, it's no surprise that all five of the Pacific Time Zone teams rank in the top seven for air miles traveled.

The Seahawks' full schedule was officially revealed on Wednesday night, and if there's a silver lining for all of the travel, Macdonald's team will only have three early 10 AM PT starts in 2024.