America’s national football game is coming to Australia, with the decision of the National Football League (NFL) to hold regular season games in Melbourne.
On the eve of its annual showcase, the Super Bowl, the NFL announced its first-ever regular season game in Australia would be played at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2026, with the Los Angeles Rams as the designated team.
The other team was not disclosed but media reports suggested it would be the Philadelphia Eagles, as both hold marketing rights in Australia as part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program.
The Eagles also have an Australian player in 166 kilogram Sydney-born Offensive Tackle Jordan Mailata, who is suiting up in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said his organisation looked forward to making history in an important market for the NFL and a significant next step in expanding its our international footprint, which already includes the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico based on the location of regular season games played in recent years.
"Expanding to Melbourne, Australia, a beautiful city with a rich sports history, underlines our ambitions to become a global sport and accelerate international growth," Goodell said in a statement.
The date, kick-off time and Ram’s opponent will be announced at a later date.
More than 50 regular-season matches have been played outside the United States but never in Australia, which hosted a preseason match between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers in Sydney in 1999.
The NFL said Australia was a significant global market for the NFL with a growing fan base of 6.6 million people supporting a game that was once better known in Australia as gridiron for the field it is played on.
The NFL said the Global Markets Program was an initiative to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S. through fan engagement, events and commercial opportunities.
The Australian Football League (AFL), which has rights to use the MCG during its season, said it supported an NFL game at the iconic stadium, which is large enough to fit four NFL fields, even if it resulted in a scheduling clash.
