The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will make NFL history next week when they travel to Melbourne for the league’s first regular-season game in Australia.
The NFC West rivals will meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, September 11, with kick-off scheduled for 10.35am local time. The journey will be the longest ever undertaken by two NFL teams for a game.
The Rams are expected to cover about 7,937 miles from Los Angeles, while the 49ers’ trip from Santa Clara will be slightly shorter at approximately 7,872 miles.
The Melbourne fixture is the first of a record nine international regular-season games planned by the NFL in 2026. The league will also stage its first games in Rio de Janeiro and Paris, alongside fixtures in London, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City.
The Australian contest will be broadcast globally on Netflix, underlining the league’s ambition to use international fixtures to reach new audiences beyond the United States.
NFL targets international growth
NFL owners have already approved 10 international games for the 2027 season — the maximum permitted outside the US under the league’s current collective bargaining agreement with players.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has previously said he would like to see as many as 16 international games on the schedule. He has also said he has “no doubt” that an NFL franchise will eventually be based permanently outside the United States.
Although NFL games remain among the most-watched television programmes in America, the league is seeking to close a substantial gap in international interest. Last year’s opening-week fixture in São Paulo, streamed on YouTube, attracted 18.5 million viewers in the US, compared with 1.2 million internationally.
NFL executive vice-president Peter O’Reilly said the league would continue to expand carefully, using the experience gained in each market to shape its next move.
“We want to do it the right way – to go to the right markets at the right time,” O’Reilly told reporters.
A central part of the strategy is the Global Markets Programme, launched in 2022. It gives clubs international marketing rights, allowing them to promote their brands, develop commercial partnerships and build support in specific countries.
The Rams hold marketing rights in Australia, as well as several other Asia-Pacific markets, while the 49ers have rights in Mexico. The team with the relevant rights is normally designated the home side when a game is played in that territory.
The NFL believes giving clubs a direct stake in overseas markets will encourage owners to invest in long-term growth. O’Reilly said having a favourite team was an important part of developing “lifelong fandom”, while allowing franchises to tailor their approach to individual countries.
However, the expansion faces practical obstacles. Games scheduled for American television audiences can take place at inconvenient hours for supporters overseas, with the Melbourne fixture beginning in the morning and European matches often being played during US primetime.
Player welfare is another concern, with teams required to manage lengthy flights and the effects of jet lag. The 49ers left for Australia on Wednesday, while the Rams are not due to arrive until next week, around 24 hours before the game.
The league will also stage a three-day fan festival at Melbourne Park, featuring flag-football sessions, exhibitions, concerts and watch parties, as it attempts to turn the Australian debut into a broader celebration of the sport.
