O'Donnell: Euro playcations of Bears and Blackhawks signs of even more globe-trotting to come

THE PASSWORD IS: "Globalization."

And for the Bears and the Blackhawks, it will be a week unprecedented involving multiple major Chicago pro teams.

Both will be playing regular-season games in Europe in the days ahead.

The Blackhawks actually open the sequence Sunday when they complete their preseason vs. Eisbären Berlin at the resilient city's Mercedes-Benz Arena (12:30 p.m., NHL Network, NBCSCH+, AM-1000).

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and mates then move on to Prague, where they will open their 2019-20 regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers Friday (1 p.m., Chicago; 8 p.m. local).

As for the Bears, Matt Nagy and his swerving crew leave for London Thursday night, scheduled to arrive at Heathrow Airport at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Greenwich Mean Time.

That's 3:30 a.m. in Chicago.

The Bears will then have a Friday afternoon practice and a Saturday walk-through at the new 62,062-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before facing the Oakland Raiders at noon on Sunday (6 p.m. in London).

Jet lag be damned, it's an indicator of the future, according to Brian McIntyre, the Chicago native who helped pioneer internationalism for David Stern's expansive NBA.

"It might be unprecedented to have two teams in different sports from the same city play abroad in the same week, but it illustrates the interest that sports can generate almost anywhere," said McIntyre, who was the primary media overseer of Michael Jordan and the U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games.

"Despite some myopic utterances to the contrary, it is a global economy.

"And there continues to be a growing worldwide demand for top tier sports."

It all comes down to numbers - and aspirational profitability, says McIntyre:

"The four major sports are pretty mature in the U.S. market with attendance and broadcast exposure high.

"But the rest of the world is another story.

"There are about 330 million people in the United States. There are about 7.4 billion in the rest of the world.

"Pretty simple math."

Games such as the Blackhawks-Flyers and Bears-Raiders are merely pinnacle lures of the growth, in McIntyre's estimation.

"A huge effort has to be put into coaching clinics, kids clinics, youth leagues, games, community outreach and so much more imagineering to help create awareness, then interest, then demand.

"Success doesn't happen overnight."

The NFL also dipped the Bears-Oakland match in chortle-worthy nuance.

It's listed as a Raiders' home game, meaning Khalil Mack's first crack back at the team that let him flee will be 5,300 miles away from the certifiably overboard at lame-duck RingCentral Coliseum.

As for Chicago purists, there's already one mildly reassuring navigational touchpoint:

The Bears opened as 6-point favorites.

STREET-BEATIN': Chicago's battered AM-1000 officially falls under the leased aegis of Good Karma Brands this week. A spokesman for group chief Craig Karmazin said that no immediate changes are planned, although strategic hours of silent sports mime radio would be a step in the right direction. … If precision-driven Theo Epstein doesn't depart the Cubs in the weeks ahead, it's for a simple reason: He hasn't been able to finalize details of the sort of co-owner/ops chief arrangement he will eventually close on. (Unless Theo goes timid or Bernie Sanders-style socialist, his next deal somewhere should gross a starter number of slice and salary worth at least $100 million.) … Close to 89 percent of the nation will get the Bears-Vikings game Sunday (Ch. 2, AM-780, 3:25 p.m.). It's a CBS cross-flex NFC game, meaning the A-team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will call as money has driven Dalvin Cook and Minnesota down to only 1½-point 'dogs. … Strong nooners for both networks: Unbeatens New England-Buffalo on CBS (Ch. 2, Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts) opposite Patrick Mahomes and KC at Detroit (Fox-32, Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis). … Philadelphia's 34-27 upset over host Green Bay Thursday night - which proved only Matt LaFleur can stop an Aaron Rodgers offense inside the 4-yard line - gave Fox the top-rated prime-time show in the overnights. Having two players carted off on stretchers did little to add to the sense of joie de vivre. … The NFL has announced Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will be the halftime stars at Super Bowl 54 in Miami Gardens next February. (Good bet that no 2019 Dolphins highlights will be part of the package, unless it's an animated visual of owner Stephen Ross hanging in effigy.) … Dennis Swanson had nothing but good to say about protégé Larry Wert, who has departed as head of Tribune Media following its mega-sale to Nexstar. "We brought Larry in as spot sales manager at (WLS) Channel 7 shortly after I got there," Swanson said. "One of his greatest strengths was that he always knew all of the little people as well as the heavyweights."… The athletics department at Palatine High just can't shake Pat Leaf Burke. The ageless administrator has retired, been asked back, retired again and has now returned as a volunteer helping to oversee her beloved Pirates. (She's seasoned enough to recall and recoil at the phrase "weaker sex.") … Dennis Welsh - VP/GM of sister stations WFLD-Channel 32 and WPWR-Channel 50 - confirmed that "My 50" will be airing 40 Chicago Wolves games this season. Moving forward, that's more free over-the-air games than any team in town. Jason Shaver and Billy Gardner return as broadcast linemates. … Prior to Arlington Park's seasonal close last weekend, management ordered workers to be on the lookout for souvenir pillagers who were anticipating a permanent shutdown. (The vigilance was apparently successful, although no word on whether Howard Sudberry's electrified Jheri curls were in play.) ... Free programming tip, this time to interim managers at WGN-AM (720): Ashcan the news reports every half-hour during the Ed O'Bradovich-Dan Hampton postgame Bears shows. The two audio tigers are already finding their best stride and then have great flows impeded by the utterly worthless interruptions. … O'Bradovich, incidentally, took a speck of ribbing after the Washington game Monday night over his role as "Eddie the Bartender" in the short-lived Robert Conrad series "The Duke," which lasted for five episodes on NBC back in 1979. O'B normally had one or two lines each show, Laurence Olivier things like: "Another one?" or "Naw, haven't seen him lately."… And, whatever the next segment of life holds for Joe Maddon, the ultra-affable Cubs curse-breaker had a very succinct reply for what a manager in his spot should do after Sunday's season finale vs. St. Louis, telling media: "When you don't win man, just go. Just go brother."

• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.