Why is there an NFL game in Australia?

ByBen Collins

BBC Sport journalist

The NFL has truthful acold played regular-season games successful 7 planetary countries but this week's travel to Australia represents a caller frontier.

It is the NFL's archetypal crippled successful the Asia-Pacific region. The USA's biggest sports league is making its longest-ever roadworthy travel for the archetypal of a record 9 planetary games successful 2026.

It volition instrumentality spot astir 10,000 miles from the NFL's New York headquarters, successful beforehand of astir 100,000 fans astatine the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

That means the Los Angeles Rams volition 'host' the San Francisco 49ers connected a much unfastened oval tract connected Friday (01:35 BST).

But erstwhile NFL commissioner Roger Goodell visited the MCG for the archetypal clip successful April, helium said the historical arena "speaks to you", and it says "this is the close spot to be".

Live NFL games person been broadcast successful Australia since 1995 and a pre-season accumulation crippled was held successful Sydney successful 1999.

Local involvement has soared since 2022, though, erstwhile the NFL made the planetary maturation of American shot a strategical priority.

The league pivoted distant from a imaginable overseas franchise to playing much games internationally. It has invested successful caller markets earlier deciding whether to instrumentality a crippled there, holding year-round events to physique the fanbase.

Australian players Jordan Mailata (Philadelphia) and Michael Dickson (Seattle) person besides captured the imaginativeness down under, playing for the past 2 Super Bowl winners.

According to the league, the fig of fans successful Australia has astir doubled since 2022 to 8.8 cardinal - astir 1 successful 3 of the country's full population.

That includes those flooding to 1 of the world's fastest-growing sports, emblem shot - the non-contact mentation of American football.

The NFL played a large portion successful emblem being approved for its Olympic debut astatine Los Angeles 2028 and has expanded the athletics from 10 schools successful Australia to much than 500.

Now it aims to assistance emblem shot unafraid a spot astatine Brisbane 2032, with NFL enforcement Peter O'Reilly acknowledging that is simply a cardinal crushed for playing successful Australia.

Being a sports-mad country, Australia was ever connected the NFL's radar, and aft investigating long-distance logistics with trips to Brazil successful 2024 and 2025, the league felt acceptable to caput down under.

Sydney and Perth were successful the moving but Melbourne is regarded arsenic the nation's sports superior and the MCG is the biggest stadium successful the confederate hemisphere.

A woody was announced successful February 2025, during Super Bowl week, and portion immoderate fans expressed choler astatine summons prices erstwhile they went connected merchantability successful April 2026, they sold retired successful minutes.

The authorities of Victoria is reportedly paying up to A$15m, external (£8m) for the close to big the crippled but expects 1 of the state's biggest returns. Dublin enjoyed a tenfold instrumentality connected its concern to signifier its archetypal NFL crippled past September.

Almost 50% of the MCG tickets were bought by fans extracurricular Victoria oregon overseas, truthful astir 50,000 fans volition sojourn Melbourne this week.

'The G' is besides close adjacent to Melbourne Park, location of tennis' Australian Open, an perfect venue for a three-day instrumentality festival, which began with a ticker enactment for past night's play opener.

The NFL picked this year's Super Bowl week to denote that the 49ers volition beryllium the Rams' opponents successful Melbourne, which created a buzz successful Australia and California.

Not lone are the Rams and 49ers regular Super Bowl contenders but they are besides divisional rivals successful the ultra-competitive NFC West. In addition, determination is heaps of hype astir the Rams.

With this season's Super Bowl being held successful LA, they person gone all-in to scope the large game. First they traded for antiaircraft stars Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie, which cemented them arsenic title favourites.

Then three-time antiaircraft subordinate of the twelvemonth Aaron Donald returned from retirement and though the 35-year-old has not travelled to Australia, Garrett and McDuffie volition some marque their Rams debut astatine the MCG.

Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and George Kittle are acceptable to instrumentality from wounded for the 49ers, with Mike Evans making his debut.

The crippled volition beryllium broadcast unrecorded connected Netflix, reaching much than 200 countries, portion the Jonas Brothers volition execute a half-time show.

California is 17 hours down Melbourne and the formation takes astir 16 hours. The erstwhile longest for a regular-season crippled was astir 12 hours to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Yet the 2 teams person taken a wholly antithetic approach. The 49ers arrived successful Melbourne past Friday portion the Rams arrived the time earlier the crippled - conscionable arsenic they did for last year's comfy triumph astatine Wembley implicit the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The immense clip quality means that the crippled kicks disconnected astatine 10:35 connected Friday successful Melbourne - which is Thursday evening successful the United States: 17:35 connected the westbound coast, 20:35 connected the east.

While a greeting commencement (local time) is virtually unheard of successful the NFL, it's perfectly mean for fans utilized to watching cricket astatine the MCG.

The agelong flights and aboriginal commencement person thrown each teams' regular regular retired of kilter. San Francisco manager Kyle Shanahan admitted helium was struggling to retrieve what time it was.

But having the crippled successful week 1 gives each squad the champion accidental to header with the question demands, alternatively than playing it aboriginal successful the season.

The NFL has committed to playing 1 much crippled successful Melbourne successful the adjacent 3 years, with the anticipation of another.

What sets Australia isolated from different countries hosting planetary games is that ball-carrying sports are the astir fashionable down under.

All 7 Australians successful the NFL converted from rugby, hoops oregon Australian rules football, and Australia has a immense excavation of akin athletes with transferable skills.

The NFL has pledged to supply emblem shot kits to each schoolhouse successful Australia and opened an academy connected the Gold Coast arsenic it aims to pat into that talent, which could nutrient an planetary pipeline of players targeting the Olympics and the NFL.