The NFL will be venturing across the Pacific to the MCG later this year in a bid to expand the sport internationally.
2005 was the first inaugural international matchup which took place in Mexico between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
19 years on, the league has expanded to playing eight matches across seven different stadiums in four continents during the 2026-27 season.
This marks the first time a regular season NFL game will be played in Australia, and the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers have been named to face off later this year at the ‘G.
SportFm spoke to NFL expert Josh Wye this morning in light of the exciting announcement.
“It’s a great game and we’ll get plenty of stars. Unfortunately we won’t get George Kittle, but we’ll get Christian McCaffrey and Jauan Jennings, Brock Purdy alongside Stafford and Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams. There’s going to be a lot of big names heading to Melbourne which is fantastic,” he said.
“Both teams had double digit wins this season and both are really good teams. That’s going to be a crucial game between those two teams early in the season because we’ve seen how dominant that division can be.”
The match is expected to take place early in the 2026-27 NFL season and will likely kick-off around midday Melbourne time.
“It’ll be a Saturday timeslot here I’d imagine, airing over on a Friday night in the states. So I think probably 12pm, 1 O’clock potentially here which lines up to what time they normally start games in America.”
“I think it’ll be the second game of the season, so 12pm would be perfect with the weather in September, everything’s aligning perfectly for that sort of time slot.”
Boasting the title of the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the ‘G is expected to bring in around 100,000 fans to add an electric atmosphere to the spectacle.
“If it does sell out and we have 100,000 there then we’re giving the NFL no choice but to return.”
“There’s every opportunity this could be one of the highest attended games just because of the sheer volume of the MCG.”
More information is expected to come out after the finale of the 2025-26 season when Superbowl LX kicks off between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks this Monday morning AWST.
IMAGE: Bay Area News Group