The Chicago Bears will not play in Germany during the 2023 season.
The NFL announced its five-game international slate Wednesday morning, and the Bears were not part of the lineup.
Rumors and news reports this spring suggested the NFL was considering sending the Bears to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany. But NBC Sports’ Peter King reported this week the Chiefs requested the Bears not be their international opponent.
The Chiefs will play the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt on Nov. 5.
And later this year, the Chiefs will host the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium. The date and time of that matchup will be announced Thursday when the full NFL schedule is released.
The Bears’ opponents for the 2023 season already are set. At home, they will play the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The Bears will go on the road to play the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns.
As for the other international games, the Indianapolis Colts will play the New England Patriots on Nov. 12 in Frankfurt.
In London, the Buffalo Bills will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 8, and the Tennessee Titans will play the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 15. Both games will be held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jaguars have two international games this year, also playing the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 1.
The NFL held its first regular-season game in Germany in November 2022. The league announced last week that 8.2 million people globally watched the game, a 21-16 Buccaneers win over the Seattle Seahawks at Allianz Arena. The NFL said the game also had an economic impact of 70.2 million euros for Munich.
The NFL has been staging games in London since 2007, but Germany has become the NFL’s largest market in Europe.
“The confirmed matchups in Germany will make for two very exciting games for fans this November and we are delighted to be playing both games in Frankfurt, a city rich in NFL history and with a significant NFL fan following,” Dr. Alexander Steinforth, the general manager of NFL Germany, said in a statement Wednesday.
The Bears last played an international game in London against the then-Oakland Raiders in 2019.
The Associated Press contributed.
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