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The NFL is officially bringing a regular-season game to Australia for the first time, with the Los Angeles Rams “hosting” the San Francisco 49ers at the MCG in 2026. The date, kickoff time and ticket details are still to come, but local reports now have it pencilled in for AFL semi-final week.
On paper, this is about as big as it gets. An NFC West rivalry in a city that treats sport like religion, and not a preseason hit-out designed to sell a few jerseys before everyone flies home.
In practice, there’s one unavoidable problem. The MCG is enormous, and an NFL field is not.
Biggest Crowd, Biggest Stadium, Tiny Field
The NFL didn’t pick the ‘G’ because it’s the best place to watch American football. It picked it because they know they can pack the place out.
You’re talking about a ground built for cricket and AFL, where the playing surface is a wide oval, and a rectangular NFL field is going to sit smack bang in the middle like a postage stamp. If you’ve ever watched a rugby league or union game in an oval stadium and felt like you needed binoculars (we’re looking at you, Melbourne State of Origin games), this is that, with an even smaller field and a sport built on stoppages and set plays, rather than the running scramble we’re used to with Aussie Rules.
Just take a look at what happened when we took rugby league to the US with the 2025 NRL season at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It’s an NFL venue first, so the NRL had to shrink the field to make it work, and it changed how the games played out. It felt more physical, tighter through the middle, and those corner finishes suddenly looked a lot more nerve-racking when you’re diving with the crowd right there and not much room to pull up. Stadiums change the sport, even when the teams don’t.
The MCG issue is the reverse. The NFL field will fit comfortably, but it’ll sit in the middle of a massive oval, so many fans will be watching the action from a long way back.
That’s the deal. You get the spectacle and the scale, but you give up the close-in view. So, unless there’s some in-stadium production tech we haven’t seen before, that means some pretty cooked sightlines for many in the stadium. Expect sore necks from watching the jumbo screen.
Why This Matchup Works
The Rams are the designated home team because they hold international marketing rights for Australia and New Zealand under the NFL’s Global Markets Program. They’ve been building local presence since 2021, and this is their payoff game.
The 49ers, meanwhile, are a smart choice for the exact reason the NFL says out loud. They’re popular in the Australian market, and this matchup comes down to one thing: these teams genuinely don’t like each other.
It also helps that this isn’t some random pairing either. Rams vs 49ers is a divisional rivalry, it’s familiar, and it’s usually messy in the way big games should be. If you’re going to do the first one here, you may as well bring something with bite.
A Potential Scheduling Nightmare
There’s also another hovering over it: the timing of it all. According to 7News AFL boss Andrew Dillon has confirmed the NFL game is expected to be played during AFL semi-final week, not in Week 1 as early reports suggested. The likely windows being discussed are Thursday or Friday, with a 10am or 11am kickoff, so it hits US prime time.
That’s great for the broadcast, and a bit terrifying for the fixture. If a Victorian club is due to host a semi at the MCG, you’re suddenly juggling an NFL setup, an AFL final, and the kind of ground turnaround that normally gets weeks, not a single night.
The MCG has talked up the ability to be ready for footy within 24 hours, but even they’ve admitted hosting the NFL is a serious undertaking.
Prepare For Ticket Chaos
Right now, the official line on tickets is basically: we’ll tell you later.
No on-sale date, no pricing, no concession info, no accessibility process, no confirmed ticketing agent, and no word on hotel bundles or premium packages. The NFL is pointing fans to the official website for updates, which is exactly where we’ll be, hitting refresh again and again.
Not because it’s fun. But because it’s the MCG, it’s the first one, and it’s Rams vs 49ers. This will sell out.
And that’s the other reason it’s at the ‘G’ instead of a tighter 50,000-seat rectangle like AAMI Park. Capacity is the pressure valve. More seats means more people get in, and it slightly reduces the temptation to price every last ticket like it’s a Super Bowl seat. Just don’t expect them to be cheap.
If you want in, register your interest now. Expect presales, packages, and the usual scramble when dates drop.
Whether or not you’ll be one of the lucky ones to snag a ticket, this will be a huge sporting moment. Just go in knowing the best seat in the house might be the one in front of a screen.
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