DENVER (AP) -The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will play the first NFL game in China next year, a preseason contest at Beijing's Workers Stadium - site of the soccer competition at the Summer Olympics.

The China Bowl, which will kick off the one-year countdown to the 2008 Games, will be played Aug. 8, 2007.

``We are very excited and proud to be bringing our game to China,'' said commissioner Roger Goodell, who made the announcement before the Patriots played the Broncos on Sunday night in Denver. ``We thank the Patriots and Seahawks for agreeing to take part in this historic game. ... This promises to be a memorable event.''

The game was also announced at Qwest Field in Seattle via a video message from Goodell during the Seahawks' game against the New York Giants. A banner for the ``China Bowl'' was raised on the netting behind the goal posts in the north end zone, where a group paraded a Chinese dragon.

The NFL has played 40 international preseason games since starting the American Bowl series in 1986. Seattle has played preseason games in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Tokyo. New England has played in Montreal and Mexico City, Mexico, during the preseason.

The game will be televised live in China in primetime by China Central Television (CCTV). NBC will carry the game live in the United States at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

CCTV is broadcasting the NFL's schedule of Sunday Night Football games live in China throughout the 2006 season, culminating with an on-site telecast of Super Bowl XLI.

The NFL's only international regular-season game took place last year in Mexico City, where a record crowd of 103,467 in Azteca Stadium watched the Arizona Cardinals win 31-14 over the San Francisco 49ers.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.