Rams and 49ers to begin 2026 NFL season in Melbourne

Melbourne Cricket Ground (Flickerd, Wikimedia Commons)

The National Football League is coming to Australia for the first time ever. On Wednesday, the NFL announced their nine international games for the 2026 regular season. According to Rogers Sportsnet, the week one game will feature the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.

The game will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has a capacity of 100,024. It will be interesting to see what the capacity will be for the NFL regular season game. In the past, the Melbourne Cricket Ground has hosted two Cricket World Cup Finals (1992 and 2015), the 1956 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and many Australian Rules of Football Games. This is clearly a monumental day for Australian sport and the Sporting Base. Our website has covered the NFL on a regular basis over the last decade.

It will now be interesting to see what time the game will be. Expect it to be in the early afternoon in Australia so it would be in the evening in the United States. There would be a lot of grumpy 49ers and Rams fans if the game was to be played in prime time in Australia. That would mean the game would be in the middle of the night in the United States.

There will be eight more games played outside the United States in 2026. In week three, the Baltimore Ravens will play the Dallas Cowboys in Brazil; in week four, the Indianapolis Colts will play the Washington Commanders in London; in week five, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Jacksonville Jaguars in London; in week six, the Houston Texans will face the Jaguars in London, in week seven, the Pittsburgh Steelers will face the New Orleans Saints in France; in week nine, the Cincinnati Bengals will face the Atlanta Falcons in Spain; in week 10, the New England Patriots will face the Detroit Lions in Germany; and in week 11, the Minnesota Vikings will face the 49ers in Mexico.