Bear Digest

Why Another NFL Madrid Game Looks Like Bears Will Be Forced Overseas

The chances appear good the Bears will wind up overseas in 2026, especially in Madrid, after a report the NFL will have seven overseas games with one in Madrid.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams on the field after the NFL International Series game at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024.
Caleb Williams on the field after the NFL International Series game at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024. | Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The move by the NFL to return to Spain for another game this season as part of their expanded international emphasis could very well mean another Bears overseas trip.

Get ready for the disruption now.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported Monday that the NFL will be coming back to Madrid's Bernabéu Stadium for 2026.

The Bears last played overseas in London in 2024 in a win over Jacksonville but that isn't the reason to anticipate they'll play in Spain. The main reason the Bears' name comes up here is the Chiefs, Bears and Dolphins are the NFL teams with marketing rights in Spain. In 2021 the assignment of marketing rights for countries was announced and the Bears were assigned the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Dolphins just played in Madrid against the Commanders in the 2025 season, and the Chiefs have played four international games in the last 11 years including 2025. So the Bears look like a natural for the next one. In addition, home teams in these games have been assigned on a conference basis if it's teams from different conferences, and this is the NFC's year to host international games after the AFC did last year.

With Kansas City struggling last year and the Bears surging with Caleb Williams as a new, rising NFL QB, there is every reason to expect the league will want to get them into the international spotlight.

The actual teams to play will likely be released well ahead of May's NFL schedule. Already, it has been reported the Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia.

The current NFL rule announced for the 2024 season was teams must play an international game every eight years, but then there were fewer international games. This might be revised going forward with more games now slated overseas.

The list is at seven international games for 2026. They'll be played in Madrid, Melbourne, Rio De Janeiro, Munich, and three games in London.

The initial idea behind assigning the Bears UK and Spain for this was so they could grow their fanbase in both of those markets. All teams were assigned markets.

This is all well short of what the NFL wants in terms of international play. Last year ESPN's Brooke Pryor reported commissioner Roger Goodell's idea is to play 16 international games a year with every NFL team playing in at least one.

Two more reasons for Bears overseas

There are two other good reasons to suspect the Bears will be forced into another overseas game in 2026.

The first is they have nine home games slated for 2026. There's not as much pushback for the league from teams when they know they'll have eight actual home games. The one home game they give up to go overseas, where they might be playing a home-away-from-home game, doesn't seem as painful for their fan base.

The other reason is the Bears might soon be indebted to the league as they want to build the stadium in Arlington Heights or else in Indiana and the league will no doubt put in money towards the construction, as they do with all new stadiums. Then they can be expected to lean more heavily on the teams they've just supported financially in this plan to expand the sport.

There's also a good reason for the Bears to tell the NFL to take someone else and that's how some teams have rarely had to endure this very disruptive situation for their season of packing up and going to a game numerous time zones away.

The Bears have played four international games, three in London and one in Toronto. They have a 3-1 record in those regular-season games. The Vikings played two in 2025 and six overall, while the Packers played one in Brazil in 2024, the same year as the Bears' win over Jacksonville.

The Lions haven't been in one since 2015 and only two total. According to the Detroit Free Press, they will get one this year. 

Worse than that, Dallas has only played one international regular-season game and it's about time for the commissioner to tell Jerry Jones it's time to start packing his bags. The Cowboys are the only team with one international game played at this point.

On the positive side for the Bears is the fact the stadium in Spain seats about 78,000. That would be 18,000 more fans watching them than can watch them at the NFL's smallest stadium, Soldier Field.

It doesn't necessarily mean more for revenue, as all gate money, concessions and merchandise sales for international games goes into a pool that is then split among all NFL teams.

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The move by the NFL to return to Spain for another game this season as part of their expanded international emphasis could very well mean another Bears overseas trip.

Get ready for the disruption now.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported Monday that the NFL will be coming back to Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium for 2026.

The Bears last played overseas in London in 2024 in a win over Jacksonville but that isn't the reason to anticipate they'll play in Spain. The main reason the Bears' name comes up here is the Chiefs, Bears and Dolphins are the NFL teams with marketing rights in Spain. In 2021 the assignment of marketing rights for countries was announced and the Bears were assigned the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Dolphins just played in Madrid against the Commanders in the 2025 season, and the Chiefs have played four international games in the last 11 years including 2025. So the Bears look like a natural for the next one, although it's possible it could be the Chiefs.

With Kansas City struggling last year and the Bears surging with Caleb Williams as a new, rising NFL QB, there is every reason to expect the league will want to get them into the international spotlight.

The actual teams to play will likely be released well ahead of May's NFL schedule. Already, it has been reported the Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia.

The current NFL rule announced for the 2024 season was teams must play an international game every eight years, but then there were fewer international games. This might be revised going forward with more games now slated overseas.

The list is at seven international games for 2026. They'll be played in Madrid, Melbourne, Rio De Janeiro, Munich, and three games in London.

The initial idea behind assigning the Bears UK and Spain for this was so they could grow their fanbase in both of those markets. All teams were assigned markets.

This is all well short of what the NFL wants in terms of international play. Last year ESPN's Brooke Pryor reported commissioner Roger Goodell's idea is to play 16 international games a year with every NFL team playing in at least one.

Two more reasons for Bears overseas

There are two other good reasons to suspect the Bears will be forced into another overseas game in 2026.

The first is they have nine home games slated for 2026. There's not as much pushback for the league from teams when they know they'll have eight actual home games. The one home game they give up to go overseas, where they might be playing a home-away-from-home game, doesn't seem as painful for their fan base.

The other reason is the Bears might soon be indebted to the league as they want to build the stadium in Arlington Heights or else in Indiana and the league will no doubt put in money towards the construction, as they do with all new stadiums. Then they can be expected to lean more heavily on the teams they've just supported financially in this plan to expand the sport.

There's also a good reason for the Bears to tell the NFL to take someone else and that's how some teams have rarely had to endure this very disruptive situation for their season of packing up and going to a game numerous time zones away.

The Bears have played four international games, three in London and one in Toronto. They have a 3-1 record in those regular-season games. The Vikings played two in 2025 and six overall, while the Packers played one in Brazil in 2024, the same year as the Bears' win over Jacksonville.

The Lions haven't been in one since 2015 and only two total. According to the Detroit Free Press, they will get one this year. 

Worse than that, Dallas has only played one international regular-season game and it's about time for the commissioner to tell Jerry Jones it's time to start packing his bags. The Cowboys are the only team with one international game played at this point.

On the positive side for the Bears is the fact the stadium in Spain seats about 78,000. That would be 18,000 more fans watching them than can watch them at the NFL's smallest stadium, Soldier Field.

It doesn't necessarily mean more for revenue, as all gate money, concessions and merchandise sales for international games goes into a pool that is then split among all NFL teams.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.