By Amos Morale III, Jourdan Rodrigue and Mike Jones
The Los Angeles Rams will be the designated home team for the NFL’s first ever game in Australia, the NFL announced Wednesday.
The Rams will play a home game at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2026, which is set to be the first in a multiyear commitment to play regular-season games in the Australian city.
“Expanding to Melbourne, Australia, a beautiful city with a rich sports history, underlines our ambitions to become a global sport and accelerate international growth,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a news release. “Together with the Victorian State Government, Visit Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and with the Los Angeles Rams in 2026, we look forward to making history in what is an important market for the NFL and a significant next step in expanding our international footprint.”
The Rams have been sending envoys to Australia over the last couple of years, including members of their business and community relations teams to host events and participate in charitable and fan initiatives. Rams cheerleaders and members of their game day hosting crews and in-house personalities were also a part of those events. Quietly, they have been working to build an engaged fan base ahead of the anticipated game abroad.
Logistically, the Rams also make sense because although it’s still a long flight at just less than 16 hours, it’s a shorter flight than many teams, like Philadelphia, which was rumored to be a team selected for this game but would’ve been looking at a 24-hour flight.
The date of the game has yet to be determined, but league officials believe most likely this will be a Week 1 game.
NFL officials said there is a robust NFL following in Australia with an estimated 6.6 million fans.
The game will be one of several of the NFL’s growing number of regular-season games to be played internationally over the next few seasons. In 2025, The league has three scheduled for London, one in Germany and one in Spain.
The Miami Dolphins have already been announced as a designated team for the game in Spain which will be played at Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The Indianapolis Colts are the designated team for 2025’s Berlin game, which will be the first regular-season game in the country’s capital. The New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns have all been announced to play in regular-season games in London.
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(Photo: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images)
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