MADRID (AP) — The Chicago Bears have finished five days of clinics with kids in Barcelona and Madrid to help promote the NFL in Spain.
The last day of the clinics was Tuesday in Madrid, with several hundred kids participating. Former Bears player Roberto Garza was among those representing the organization.
Gustavo Silva, the Bears’ manager of youth football and community programs, said the clinics help the process of “building positive momentum for the growth of football” worldwide.
Madrid is one of the European cities vying to host NFL games in the near future. Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is undergoing major renovations that will include a soccer field that retracts to make way for an artificial turf field that can be used for football with a capacity of more than 80,000.
“Everybody is optimistic that in the future there is going to be a game here in Spain at some point, at some time,” Silva told The Associated Press. “I couldn’t tell you any specifics, but obviously the Chicago Bears would love to be a team that plays here.”
The Bears and the Miami Dolphins are currently the two teams with international marketing rights in Spain.
Five international NFL games were played this season — three in London, one in Munich and another in Mexico City.