The Bears are heading back to London in 2024.
The NFL announced early Thursday that the Bears will play one of their nine home games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next season.
“Every game the Chicago Bears play is rich in tradition, culture and passion. And every year, game after game, we look forward to welcoming fans to experience that richness,” Bears chairman George McCaskey said in a statement released by the Bears. “This year, we will take our storied franchise and tradition back to London and share internationally what our fans locally experience at every game. We are excited to join the many NFL teams who are expanding internationally to play a game in London during the 2024 season.”
The 2024 game will be the Bears’ fourth trip overseas, but their first as the home team. They played an exhibition game against the Cowboys in 1986. They played regular-season games in London in 2011 against the Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium (a 24-18 victory) and in 2019 against the Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (a 24-21 loss.).
The opponent and kick-off time will be announced when the league schedule is released in May. The Bears’ home opponents next season are the Packers, Lions, Vikings, Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars, Titans, Panthers and Patriots. Teams generally don’t play division opponents in overseas games (it last happened in 2019). The Jaguars and Vikings are already part of the International Series for 2024.
The Panthers are the fourth team to play in the International Series in 2024. They will play in Munich, Germany. The NFL also will play a regular-season game in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2024 — the first NFL game played in South America.