EXCLUSIVE: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talks the Bears' brand and international play with FOX 32
Back on August 3, 1986, the NFL held its "American Bowl" game at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the league's first foray into international play.
The defending Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears defeated the Dallas Cowboys 17-6 in a preseason game, and an intern with the NFL named Roger Goodell was there.
That intern is now the NFL's commissioner overseeing the NFL's expansion into Spain, Brazil, Germany and perhaps more.
Goodell visited FOX 32's Chicago Bears pregame show, 38 years after he was an intern at the start of the NFL's international play, and talked about the league's international status as well as how the Bears fit into that picture.
"We were compared to sort of ‘the circus comes into town,'" Goodell told FOX 32's Lou Canellis and Cassie Carlson. "Now, we're a part of this community and the people look forward to this strip of games and we're really proud to be there."
The Bears are a big part of that.
As one of the first teams that helped begin international play, Goodell also recognized how the world views one of the league's founding franchises.
It was one of the reasons the Bears helped start international games in 1986 and it's also a reason why the league wants to keep bringing the Bears back in the future.
"They're such an iconic franchise and people know it worldwide," Goodell said. "That was one of the reasons of having the Cowboys and the Bears there. They're two franchises that have a great global presence."
Having a great global presence has to come with the willingness to act on it.
Goodell spoke highly of Bears ownership, namely the McCaskey family, for being willing to bring the Bears overseas. That's a reason why there are more fans internationally now than in the decades past.
"McCaskey's have been wonderful about saying, ‘We want to participate. We want to bring the bears to the rest of the world,’" Goodell said. "You'll see the difference from '86 because the fans are so much more sophisticated. They understand the game a lot more."
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Now, the NFL wants to expand even more. The league will play in Spain later this season, after the Packers and Eagles played in Brazil in Week 1. Goodell said the league looks at where it can make the biggest impact when it decides where to play next.
What is next for the league? Goodell said it's all on the table. He said the NFL has discussed Australia, Africa, the Middle East and India being future destinations.
Still, it also helps when the Bears' global brand has a star that feeds into the biggest stages.
Goodell saw it firsthand when he announced Caleb Williams as the Bears' No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, officially beginning a new era of Bears' football.
"Great young man first, but he's also a great talent," Goodell said. "It's hard making an adjustment into the NFL. He's done an extraordinary job. He's such a great young kid and a great quarterback. I'm sure it's going to be a great marriage with the Bears."
Keeping an eye on different marriages is something Goodell is doing constantly, nowadays.
He knows that Chicago is patiently waiting to see what happens with a new Bears' stadium, either in Chicago or in Arlington Heights, but he knows a good playing venue when he sees it. That goes for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which is a type of stadium that Goodell can see in Chicago one day.
"You look at the stadium, this could be in Chicago," Goodell said. "This stadium is world-class. So, this could obviously handle an NFL franchise on a regular basis."