{"id":151858,"date":"2025-09-18T10:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151858\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:28:09","slug":"nfl-australia-game-mcg-set-for-unusual-timeslot-as-nfl-comes-down-under","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151858\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Australia game: MCG set for unusual timeslot as NFL comes Down Under"},"content":{"rendered":"

The MCG is preparing to host its first-ever NFL game next September, with MCC chief executive Stuart Fox revealing the blockbuster event is likely to take place in an unusual timeslot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Rams have already been confirmed as the designated home team, with their opponent to be revealed in May.<\/p>\n

While the NFL\u2019s full 2026 schedule is yet to be released, Fox said the Melbourne clash is expected to serve as the league\u2019s season opener. To ensure it fits into a prime-time US broadcast slot, fans at the \u2019G may find themselves settling in for a 10 am or 11 am Friday kick-off.<\/p>\n

Balancing act with AFL finals<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will definitely be in September, I think,\u201d Fox told SEN\u2019s Dwayne\u2019s World<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s likely to be a Friday morning, which might sound odd to a lot of people, but the place will fill no matter what. So, it might be a 10 or 11 o\u2019clock game on a Friday, it could even be a Thursday, and that sounds odd, but it will be live in the US as the opening game of the year. So that\u2019s pretty exciting for not only the \u2018G, not only Victoria, but our country being beamed into the US, it will be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scheduling, however, poses a significant challenge. With the game set to land during the AFL Finals, MCG staff will be tasked with the mammoth job of turning the ground around in record time.<\/p>\n

Fox admitted the scale of the NFL\u2019s stadium overlay is unlike anything the venue has handled before. \u201cIt\u2019s the most significant undertaking I have ever seen for a major event \u2026 it\u2019s going to be complicated and challenging, but we\u2019re up for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If pulled off, the spectacle will not only bring one of America\u2019s biggest sports to Melbourne but also beam the iconic \u2019G into millions of households across the US in prime time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The MCG is preparing to host its first-ever NFL game next September, with MCC chief executive Stuart Fox…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-151858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}