Packers-Bears: What to know about attending the game at Soldier Field in Chicago
GREEN BAY ‒ The Green Bay Packers open and close the 2023 regular season against the Chicago Bears. A lot will happen between those games, in Chicago in September and in Green Bay in January.
Since the creation of the NFC North division in 2002, the Packers started and ended the season with the same team only once, in 2006 against the Bears. They spilt the series, the Bears winning at Lambeau Field to start the season and the Packers winning at Soldier Field to end it, with the Bears finishing 13-3 and the Packers 8-8.
Here is what to know about Sunday's game.
Packers-Bears game time
When: 3:25 p.m. Sunday
Where: Soldier Field in Chicago
Broadcast and reporting crews
Fox network with Kevin Burkhardt on play-by-play, Greg Olsen as analyst, and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi.
Radio stations carrying the game can be found at packers.com/video/radio-network. Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren announce the game.
The oldest rivalry in the NFL engages for the 102rd year
This is the oldest rivalry in the NFL, beginning in 1921, and includes some of the Packers' greatest games. When the Packers won in Chicago last season, they overtook the Bears as the NFL's winningest team with 787 victories, a position the Bears held practically forever. The Packers had a bad season last year, finishing at 8-9, but the Bears were worse at 3-14, so going into this season the Packers lead with 790 victories to the Bears' 786.
The Packers also lead the all-time series, 105-95-6. The teams did not play each other in 1982, a strike year with an abbreviated schedule.
Aaron Rodgers moved on to New York, which gives the Bears a better-than-before chance of winning. It's been four years, and eight games, since the Bears defeated Green Bay. The Packers have had two starting quarterbacks since 1992, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, and while much has been made of Rodgers owning the Bears, Favre at least had a long-term lease. The Packers are 47-15 against the Bears over those 30 years.
Tickets to season opener are pricey
This is the second most expensive game on the Packers schedule at this point in the season, trailing only the Oct. 9 game in Las Vegas. The average get-in price, determined by surveying 11 secondary marketplaces, was $310 as of Monday. The get-in average was $340 on Aug. 23.
Weather will be perfect for summer football
The National Weather Service forecast is for mostly sunny with a high of 71, as of Thursday morning.
It's easier to fill Soldier Field than Lambeau Field
Soldier Field, home of the Bears, is the smallest stadium in the NFL, with a capacity of 61,500, compared to Lambeau Field's 81,441.
Like Lambeau Field, Soldier Field is cashless.
Parking in Chicago is neither as easy or as cheap as around Lambeau Field. Secondary marketplaces offer parking from $46 to $488. Shuttle service is provided from some distant parking, but not all. Grant Park South, for example, is 1.7 miles from the stadium and shuttle service is not offered.
Soldier Field parking information is available here.
Soldier Field is 21 miles from O'Hare International Airport and 10 miles from Chicago Midway International Airport. It is 210 miles from Lambeau Field.
Population comparison
Green Bay is the smallest market in the NFL, with a metro area population of 321,591, compared to Chicago's 9.5 million.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Packers-Bears: What to know about attending the game in Chicago
