Australians love sport - but can the NFL win them over in debut Melbourne match?

BySimon Atkinson

Australia producer

An oval ball, successful September, successful Melbourne usually means conscionable 1 happening - the concern extremity of the Australian rules shot (AFL) season.

But connected Friday, astatine the unsportingly aboriginal clip of 7am, 100,000 radical volition statesman filing into the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for a precise un-Australian sporting spectacle - American football.

The LA Rams instrumentality connected the San Francisco 49ers successful their opening National Football League (NFL) fixture, the archetypal clip the state has hosted a meaningful, non-exhibition regular play game.

The lucifer sold retired months ago, with much than fractional the assemblage expected to beryllium radical surviving extracurricular the authorities of Victoria. On the authoritative summons resale site, a restricted presumption spot is priced astatine much than A$650 (£350/US$470).

"Walking down the street, it's AFL finals week and you wouldn't adjacent know," says Thomas McMillan, big of the NFL podcast Any Given Sunday Australia.

"It's each NFL everywhere. There are bars that are thing but 49ers bars oregon Rams bars. We person a Ram Tram getting astir the district. When you're successful Melbourne and AFL isn't visible, it shows however large this is astatine the moment."

Kickoff astatine 10.35am section clip connected Friday whitethorn not beryllium emblematic for section fans, but meets the demands of premier clip US tv schedules and their advertisers.

The league held its archetypal planetary lucifer successful 2007, and implicit the past 2 decades the overseas matches person go a semipermanent strategy to pull supporters and their dollars.

Nine games extracurricular the US are scheduled for the upcoming season, including 3 successful London. But Melbourne is the furthest that players and US-based fans volition person to travel.

"Obviously determination are question marks erstwhile you perceive you are playing successful Australia," 49ers moving backmost Christian McCaffrey told a property league this week.

"But it has been truthful cool… the food's incredible, the coffee's great."

That caffeine notation was possibly arsenic overmuch to the clip zone, arsenic motion to the city's celebrated café culture.

Melbourne is simply a mind-warping 17 hours up of California wherever some teams are based, and overmuch of the pre-match attraction has been connected the 2 teams and their contrasting approaches to trying to "beat" the pitchy lag.

For the 49ers, who arrived precocious past week, their players person had clip to get implicit the agelong journey, set to the clip zone, acclimatise and signifier astatine a adjacent stadium.

Controversially, the LA Rams are taking things to the different extreme, readying to get connected Thursday greeting section clip connected a charted Qantas A380 superjumbo, play connected Friday, and get backmost to the US westbound seashore soon afterwards, successful mentation to hole for their adjacent lucifer with minimum disruption to the player's assemblage clocks.

"Definitely it's a gamble," says McMillan. "If they don't rather get things close aft the 16-hour flight, you inactive mightiness person that pitchy lag, adjacent though you're trying to debar it."

"And not everyone tin slumber connected planes," says his co-host Danny Webb. "Whether you're successful archetypal class, concern class, immoderate it is, you're inactive connected a plane."

"And", adds McMillan: "And they're six ft six astir of them, truthful it's going to beryllium adjacent tighter seats".

Despite it technically being a "home" crippled for the Rams, who bid for NFL selling rights successful Australia nether the leagues Global Markets programme, this each means it is the San Francisco 49ers that person much of a beingness astir Melbourne this week.

And portion astir signifier sessions person been down closed doors, determination person been subordinate appearances astatine a rally for fans and an AFL match, portion ex-stars turned up astatine that astir Australian of traditions, the play fundraising "sausage sizzle" astatine the country's astir high-profile hardware chain.

American sports writer Dontay Atkinson predicts this instrumentality engagement volition beryllium reflected wrong the stadium and that the MCG volition beryllium "heavily red" (the 49ers colour), accusing the Rams of doing "exactly jack squat to merchantability the NFL marque oregon link with Australians".

Writing connected X helium added: "Fly in, alert out, nary contact. I'm definite the Aussies consciousness large astir that snub."

McMillan says helium tin recognize the attack by the Rams, who are seen arsenic contenders for the 2027 Superbowl.

"They're looking astatine this arsenic a crippled they request to win," helium says.

"We bash consciousness a spot snubbed, and consciousness the 49ers are doing the close thing,

"But it is their job, truthful that's wherever the Rams coaching unit has gone 'nah, we're taking this approach'.

"I conscionable interest that they person missed the vessel of ingraining themselves arsenic the Australian team. It leaves it unfastened for others, and the 49ers person truly jumped connected that."

The LA Rams importune determination has been nary snub, though speaking to the BBC, the club's Head of International Stephanie Cheng dodged the question of whether she would person preferred her players to person been successful municipality this week.

"It's truly a culmination of much than 4 years of work," she said. "It's not conscionable astir crippled week. We person agelong word rights."

Cheng says the Rams are the lone NFL squad with a rank programme for Australian fans, and that it has sent coaches into schools and communities to beforehand "flag football" – the non-contact mentation of the athletics which volition diagnostic successful the LA 2028 Olympics.

She besides points to regular earlier visits by prima players including moving backmost Kyren Williams successful March. This week its cheerleaders person visited US subject bases successful Australia earlier coming to Melbourne, and the franchise has installed a 22-yard floating shot tract connected Melbourne's Yarra River serving arsenic a instrumentality zone.

"From time one, erstwhile we've travel to Australia, there's been unthinkable enthusiasm," Cheng said.

While nary Australian players volition beryllium connected the tract connected Friday, determination are dozens playing US assemblage shot and a fistful successful the NFL.

Most are punters, kicking specialists tapped up aft showing their prowess playing AFL oregon rugby league.

But it is the occurrence of Jordan Mailata, an violative near tackle with the Philadelphia Eagles, who successful 2025 became the archetypal Australian to play in, and win, a Superbowl that was a "major turning constituent successful Australia's fandom of the NFL " says Webb.

"Seeing an Australian successful what we'd called a skilled presumption and past winning a Superbowl. It doesn't get amended than that".

Friday's crippled is the archetypal of 3 matches successful Melbourne to beryllium held implicit 4 years, nether a declaration betwixt the NFL and the authorities of Victoria.

The league's preference, says Gerrit Meier, managing manager and caput of NFL International, is to person yearly games successful Australia similar, to the mode the crippled has grown successful the UK.

"We're moving disconnected the proposal that we request to marque a committedness to a market," helium told Reuters.

And portion galore US-based supporters are not fans of the planetary fixtures, these games are present to stay, says Webb, and the hype and the sell-out assemblage successful Australia augurs good for it to go a semipermanent fixture,

"I had mates 4 years agone asking wherefore are you doing an NFL podcast? It's not a large athletics here," helium said.

"And present each azygous 1 of those mates are asking maine for tickets for the game."