Some of the Lancaster football players were telling me about their plans for a future in football, whether it was through playing or working in the sports industry. One of the students was saying he’s interested in statistics and plans to spend his gap year in the States to try and work with a team. Another one said he loved football, but didn’t like the amount of physicality, so he went from playing to being the team photographer.
It really felt awesome to be a part of the Bears traveling over here expanding to a new market within the UK. I’ve been around Bears fans for a really long time and they always talk about the fandom being a generational thing — how they’ve been fans since the ’85 Bears or they were born into it. What’s really cool, though, is being in a new culture that is not only embracing American football, but truly embracing the Bears, too.
Obviously, we love our die-hard Bears fans back in Chicago and around the United States, but it’s really fun to see our fandom expanding as well. When you think about the Bears being this global brand and influencing so many people, including kids, outside of Chicago, it’s really exciting.