Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is trading the sideline for the small screen this weekend. Hallmark Channel’s newest holiday romance, “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story,” features cameos from Johnson, current players and several franchise legends, and it was filmed on location at Soldier Field and Halas Hall.
A Grandmother’s 500th Game Sets Up the Romance
The movie centers on Darlene, played by Marsha Mason, a devoted Bears superfan who is approaching her 500th game, according to the original reporting from ABC7 Chicago. Robert Buckley plays Matt, Darlene’s grandson and a Chicago firefighter who has been pushing local media to cover his grandmother’s milestone, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lyndsy Fonseca plays Avery, the reporter assigned to cover Darlene’s story despite knowing nothing about football, per the same ABC7 account.
That setup gives the film its excuse to roam around Bears territory, and the production took the opportunity to go all in on cameos. Coach Johnson appears alongside current tight ends Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, plus Bears alumni Mike Singletary, Charles “Peanut” Tillman and Dan Hampton, the team confirmed in a release from chicagobears.com. Connie Payton, the wife of Bears legend Walter Payton, also makes an appearance, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Soldier Field and Halas Hall Doubled as Movie Sets
Production shot scenes at Soldier Field, around the city and at Halas Hall, the Bears’ headquarters in suburban Lake Forest, the trade outlet reported. Fonseca said meeting Bears players and visiting Halas Hall and Soldier Field was educational, while Buckley said he spent a month working in Chicago and came away enjoying the city’s food, people and sights, according to ABC7’s reporting.
Buckley also described filming outdoor scenes during a heat wave, in scarves and coats, with temperatures around 95 degrees, per the same ABC7 account. The cast reportedly became fans of the Bears and of Chicago itself while working on the project, the station noted, though neither claim is detailed beyond that characterization.
Third NFL Team to Get the Hallmark Treatment
“Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” is the third installment in a franchise that began with a Kansas City Chiefs movie in 2024 and continued with a Buffalo Bills film in 2025, according to Girls Gone Hallmark. The Chicago Sun-Times has tied the franchise’s origins to the 2024 surge of attention around Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, noting the series was created through Hallmark capitalizing on that cultural moment. NFL.com similarly frames the Bears as the third team in as many years to land the holiday spotlight, following the Chiefs and Bills.
Dustin Rikert directed the film, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” premieres on Hallmark Channel at 7 p.m. Central Saturday, with a Hallmark+ streaming release following the next day, according to NBC Chicago and hallmarkchannel.com. Per the cast’s own speculation, as reported by ABC7, the film is expected to wrap up with a happy ending for its central couple.
