National Football League

Bucs set to play Bears in London in October

Published Apr. 18, 2011 11:36 p.m. ET

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Chicago Bears at London's Wembley Stadium in October if the NFL season isn't altered by a labor dispute.

With the league and its locked-out players still mired in negotiations over a new labor agreement, the NFL on Monday announced its plans for what it hopes will be the fifth regular-season game played in the British capital.

The Bucs are set to return to London for the second time in three years, having lost to the New England Patriots at Wembley in 2009. For the Bears, the game on Oct. 23 will mark the 25th anniversary of having played a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys at the stadium in 1986.

''Our past four games in London have demonstrated the tremendous passion for NFL football that exists in the UK,'' NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

This would be the fifth consecutive year that the NFL has staged a regular-season game in London as the league tries to win over new fans and increase its marketing appeal overseas.

The full 2011 NFL schedule will be released Tuesday.

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