NEW ORLEANS — The NFL is increasing its worldwide footprint to Australia.
The league introduced Wednesday that it is going to be taking part in a recreation in 2026 in Melbourne on the Melbourne Cricket Floor, a venue that holds about 100,000 spectators. The Los Angeles Rams would be the house workforce for that recreation, a part of a multi-year dedication to play in Melbourne.
“This is a big statement,” league govt Peter O’Reilly stated. “Probably a few years ago, you may not have thought this was a reality. I’d say the commissioner, the 32 owners, there’s a commitment to become a true global sport property. That means expanding our footprint, that means going to different parts of the world and exposing more fans around the world, in this case fans in Australia and Melbourne, to our great sport.”
O’Reilly stated the sport will possible be performed in Week 1 to offer the groups additional time to acclimate to the time zone and promote the game earlier than the sport. It might possible be scheduled for prime time on the East Coast of the USA, which might imply a begin time of about midday in Melbourne.
The NFL opened an academy in Australia final 12 months to assist develop promising youngsters within the Asia-Pacific area into school and professional prospects. The Tremendous Bowl being performed Sunday in New Orleans options Australia’s most profitable NFL participant: Philadelphia Eagles left sort out Jordan Mailata.
The Rams have had advertising rights in Australia because the NFL began its worldwide advertising program in 2022.
“We could not be more excited,” workforce President Kevin Demoff stated. “As soon as this opportunity came about, we were the first to raise our hands and say we want to play in that first game in Australia.”
The NFL hopes committing to Australia will assist enhance the possibilities that flag soccer will likely be a part of the 2032 Olympics set to be held there in Brisbane. Flag soccer will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028 and a call on whether or not it is going to be a part of the 2032 Olympics will likely be made within the subsequent few years.
Australia would be the seventh nation outdoors the USA to host an NFL recreation. The league has performed video games in England yearly since 2007 and has additionally performed video games in Mexico, Germany, Brazil and Canada. The Miami Dolphins would be the hosts for the primary recreation in Spain in 2025 at Actual Madrid ’s venue.
As of the 2025 season, the NFL can schedule as much as eight league-operated regular-season video games internationally.
London will host three video games subsequent season — two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium. The Browns and the New York Jets are the house groups at Tottenham; and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley.
The Colts are the house workforce for a recreation in Berlin at Olympic Stadium, and the opposite recreation will likely be in Madrid.
O’Reilly additionally stated the league is dedicated to return to Mexico after renovations to Azteca Stadium for the 2026 World Cup are completed.
This received’t be the primary time a serious U.S.-based sports activities league went to Australia with Main League Baseball taking part in a season-opening collection between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney in 2014.
There have additionally been a number of main school soccer video games performed in Australia through the years, with the latest being video games between Stanford and Rice in 2017 and California and Hawaii in 2016.
