The Chicago Bears have played nine international games in their history to date. Their last three have all been to London, England. With the NFL posting a huge slate of international games for the 2026 season, it felt almost inevitable that the Bears would be a natural option for one of them. The only question would be where they go. There are plenty of options. They could return to London, where they have marketing rights and a large fanbase eager to see them again. Germany, Mexico, and Brazil have also become popular options.
However, a recent post on Twitter (X) dropped a colossal hint about where that game will take place. Recently, Iker Sagasti is a Spanish Journalist who covers the NFL. He posted a photograph of the iconic Rock of Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain. It borders La Línea de la Concepción. Where it gets interesting is that the city is the home of Cristian Saban Carretero, a finalist nominated by the Bears for NFL International Fan of the Year 2025. Sure enough, the team’s Spanish Twitter account retweeted Sagasti’s post with two unmistakable emojis.
It looks like the Chicago Bears are going to Spain.
This makes sense for two reasons. First, the NFL just opened up that market when the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders played in Madrid last season. The league likely wanted to test the waters. Now that the reception was good, they’ll want to bring in one of their bigger franchises. Chicago is not only a great draw thanks to their recent success, but it also holds exclusive rights to the Spanish market. It was only a matter of time before they wanted to get the team in front of fans over there.
There isn’t much left to do in London. The Chicago Bears are well-established there. It is time to grow their influence elsewhere. Logically, it makes sense to head for mainland Europe. Spain has the fifth-largest economy on the continent and is probably the most untapped of any. They have arguably the most rabid soccer fans in the world, so sports are a big deal there. Let’s also not forget that Chicago has a large Hispanic demographic. Leaning into that is only natural.
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So who would the Bears play?
Right now, the heavy favorite in such a scenario would be the Dolphins. The two teams are already scheduled to play each other this season. The Chicago Bears have nine home games on their schedule, so they would likely play host. Miami already played there last season, and it is one of two teams with exclusive marketing rights in the country. It isn’t hard to see why this matchup would be the obvious choice. Probably the other team to watch would be the Jacksonville Jaguars, who play the Bears as well and faced them two years ago in London.
A Dolphins scenario would be the most intriguing. Miami was just taken over by general manager Jon Eric-Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley. Both came from the Green Bay Packers. There would likely be some residual bad blood from the rivalry. All of that aside, every sign points to the Bears playing overseas. The NFL wants to capitalize on the team’s popularity to help grow the game outside the U.S. Spain is as good of a place as any.
