{"id":897008,"date":"2026-09-18T21:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/897008\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:54:18","slug":"nfl-match-in-melbourne-it-cost-double-previous-estimates-but-the-jubilation-made-it-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/897008\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL match in Melbourne: It cost double previous estimates, but the jubilation made it worth it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

September 19, 2026 \u2014 5:30am<\/p>\n

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Winter in Melbourne was awful. The weather unremitting: cost of living, deadly potholes, local shops firebombed, local gyms firebombed, teenagers stabbing each other.<\/p>\n

But unexpectedly, a burst of joy. The three-hour, 10.35am Friday NFL match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers last week had it all. Grand spectacle, folly (courtesy of the LA Rams attempts to defy jet lag<\/a>) and something we have been missing for a while \u2013 jubilance.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t attend the match nor understand what was going on. And for me, the real pleasure was not the onfield clash of titans but in the stuff that surrounded it.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans show their support at the NFL game at the MCG.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n

I owe thanks to a bunch of US sports writers (plus at least $30 million of taxpayer money) to blast away my jadedness about Melbourne and appreciate its pleasures anew.<\/p>\n

I know that genuflecting to foreign arrivals is uncool, verging on pathetic. We Australian journalists have been doing this shamelessly ever since 1961 Hollywood star Vivien Leigh, fresh off the plane at Sydney Airport, was asked by the press corp what she thought about Australia. Before she had even left the terminal.<\/p>\n

Her famously arch response was: \u201cI don\u2019t know. You are standing in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week it was San Francisco 49ers chief executive Al Guido smoothly telling me how \u201cstarstruck\u201d he was arriving at the MCG. Yes, this made me happy.<\/p>\n

And I wouldn\u2019t be the only one who looked upon their city anew after a crack squad of US football reporters arrived a week early alongside the 49ers and got among it, listing the CBD cafes they loved, posting snaps of their big brekkies.<\/p>\n

David Lombardi, of The San Francisco Standard, even taught a few Melburnians a thing or two as he looked out at the MCG from Princes Bridge, noting the City of Melbourne motto was \u201cWe gather strength as we go\u201d. Who knew that? We all do now.<\/p>\n

Even the highest powers were not immune.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayer the winning strategy as NFL makes its Australian debut,\u201d proclaimed the newsletter of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhead of their Friday morning clash, a group of players from the San Francisco 49ers joined Melbourne\u2019s Archbishop Peter A Comensoli for a pre-game celebration of the Eucharist. The Mass was organised through the team\u2019s coaching staff and allowed players like star running back Christian McCaffrey, a Catholic, to partake in a different kind of preparation before the big game,\u201d the newsletter reported. And you thought queues of 200 people outside the NFL pop-up shop on Bourke Street was the real story.<\/p>\n

\"NFLNFL fans queuing up for official merchandise on Bourke Street on September 10.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

All appropriate deference to Him, but the real star of the show was Grant Cohn, who covers the 49ers on SI.com. He posted on every aspect of his Melbourne visit. His lunchtime sausage roll and an iced coffee at 7-11. How to eat Vegemite on toast (a little bit of spread and a lot of butter). His honest assessment? \u201cPungent, definitely not Nutella.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans include Victoria\u2019s newish Major Events Minister Anthony Carbines, who took over from Steve Dimopoulos. And the AFL, which promptly hired him.<\/p>\n

There are lessons here for local journalists, about energy, intensity, but also in the foregrounding of daily pleasures that we treat nonchalantly.<\/p>\n

For Craig Hutchison and Eddie McGuire, ceaseless impresarios of sport and major events through their various media companies, the NFL match was nothing less than an exclamation point marking the end point of Victoria\u2019s listless COVID-19 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a demonstration of love of sport, our passion for big events and why our city stands above all others in the world per capita in the want, willingness and enthusiasm to do that at 10.35am on a Friday morning (for) a sport that is not played here,\u201d Hutchison enthused on his SEN podcast The Sounding Board.<\/p>\n

McGuire, unofficial ambassador for exuberance on Triple M\u2019s Mick in the Morning radio program, said he was proud of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the end of the COVID era \u2026 this is the end of all the dramas, we can lift our head and be proud of Melbourne again. Back in town in a big way.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet the politicians fight it out I don\u2019t care about any of the stuff like that \u2026 fill a pothole in, throw a machete in a bin, we don\u2019t care. It was tough on the Broadmeadows line in the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another perspective\"Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n

This was a lot, even for FM breakfast shows that are noted for exuberance \u2013 and we should note that one of McGuire\u2019s very many hats is as a board member of Visit Victoria, which funded a large chunk of the NFL visit.<\/p>\n

Which brings us very neatly to the question of cost. The normally forthright Hutchison was uncharacteristically coy when asked directly how much the game had cost the state. \u201cMore than $15 million and a lot less than it was worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the \u201cballpark\u201d figure of about $15 million per game was broadly quoted in the media, what was largely ignored was the other cost \u2013 staging the event.<\/p>\n

Simply put, that doubles the cost to at least $30 million. Extra transport, security, fan zones, the exclusion perimeter around the MCG, replacing the turf at the MCG, the MCG underground carpark becoming a vast player dressing room with players\u2019 cabinets. And don\u2019t think that all that media attention from NFL journalists just happened without some input from Visit Victoria.<\/p>\n

Then there was grand dinner at Government House for more than 230 guests featuring a trio of chefs \u2013 Andrew McConnell, Karen Martini and Dan Hunter, organised by The Big Group and Food + Drink Victoria.<\/p>\n

But the industry is very confident of a handsome return on investment. Hoteliers were ecstatic. Crown\u2019s hotels had its second-biggest Thursday ever, while the Accor group, which has 53 hotels across Melbourne, including the Sofitel, Pullman and Novotel, was 25 per cent up on standard occupancy compared with the same time last year.<\/p>\n

What a waste of money better spent of schools, hospitals and potholes, I hear you say. Yes, critics might well complain such major events are a sugar hit, but there is no doubting the importance of the visitor economy for us, worth a record $48.6 billion (in the year to March 2026), creating 320,100 filled jobs, the government says.<\/p>\n

Tourism is the state\u2019s second most valuable export sector \u2013 bringing in overseas dollars \u2013 after education, which is undergoing a reset as the federal government bans family visas and visa hopping<\/a> for international students.<\/p>\n

So the visitor economy is a long-term sustainable one.<\/p>\n

NAB put out a press release predicting that about $300 million would flow through Melbourne businesses thanks to the NFL. Which was quickly adopted as gospel. But it didn\u2019t say what would be ordinarily spent over that period anyway. The real economic impact assessment will come later, if it is ever released. <\/p>\n

Carbines would not talk costs, either the NFL fees or staging costs, but said government investment in major events cemented the city as \u201cAustralia\u2019s sporting, creative and cultural capital\u201d that would \u201cshowcase Melbourne to millions around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA packed major events calendar \u2026 generated $3.64 billion in economic impact in 2025,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Major events must be bought at sensible price and have an ongoing benefit, as one-off events are a waste of money, says former premier Jeff Kennett, who took the grand prix off Adelaide in the 1990s in what was regarded a signature move indicating Victoria\u2019s revival, giving the state a sign of hope amid painful restructure and large job losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther states are envious of what we deliver. We must be forever on our toes,\u201d Kennett says.<\/p>\n

In reference to the state\u2019s poor balance sheet, he doesn\u2019t suggest crimping on major events. \u201cHere are a few other things we are wasting money on,\u201d he says, nominating government waste, the Suburban Rail Loop, Big Build corruption, and interest payments on government debt, which could rise steeply if the state suffered a credit downgrade.<\/p>\n

Major events and sport such as the AFL were a \u201cregular contributor to people\u2019s happiness\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

And NFL will be back again as part of its three-match commitment over four years (with an option for a fourth). But is there any Visit Victoria money left to spend on anything else?<\/p>\n

Visit Victoria, which is on the cusp of releasing its latest annual report, must demonstrate a 10 to one economic benefit, which is in its constitution.<\/p>\n

The proof will be in whether the state can continue to attract other major events. The undoubted jewel in the crown of global musicals, Paddington, is rumoured to be going to Sydney. Can Visit Victoria win it for Melbourne? Watch and see.<\/p>\n

The strategy of bread and circuses, panem et circenses, literally as old as the Roman Empire, means subsidising the cost of grain and staging mass public spectacles to keep the masses happy, and \u2013 crucially \u2013 distracted from their rotten status in life.<\/p>\n

But it worked, here and in the US, where the game averaged 18.5 million viewers, ranking it among the top three most streamed games for its time slot.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

David Lombardi, of The San Francisco Standard, says the popularity of his videos from Australia were an \u201cexplosion even bigger than Super Bowl coverage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelbourne, you made this exponentially more massive than Americans expected. The 49ers certainly benefited from their time in the sporting capital of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact is, we need this. As one damning assessment I came across put it:\u201cMelbourne has to buy its visitors, Sydney, London and New York do not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the days are warmer. I no longer wake at 3am. The ACO is playing Mozart\u2019s Last Symphonies at Hamer Hall next week. The grand final is a week away. A ringtail possum is camping out in my barbecue, nesting in some local shrubbery. My niece has named it Nicholas Jr after her dad. Even Southern Cross Station seems cleaner.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Grant Cohn is still going. Back home, he has watched Two Hands and is trying to source a copy of The Castle.<\/p>\n

And he announced a return visit to Australia in April when he will go wine tasting with his dad and cover the AFL. But in Adelaide, for Gather Round.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"StephenStephen Brook<\/a> is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 19, 2026 \u2014 5:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-897008","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\/897008","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=897008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}