MELBOURNE IS GETTING ITS FIRST NFL GAME, AND THE LONGEST TRIP IN LEAGUE HISTORY

🏈 18.5 million Americans watched the NFL's Sao Paulo game last year. Internationally, 1.2 million did.

That gap is the whole business case for what happens next week.

CNBC Sport reports the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will play the first NFL game ever staged in Australia, in Melbourne, marking the longest distance two NFL teams have traveled for a game.

It is the front end of a record nine international regular-season games in 2026. Rio de Janeiro and Paris get their first NFL match-ups. London, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City are also on the schedule.

Owners have already signed off on 10 international games for 2027, the ceiling the league can play outside the U.S. under its current collective bargaining agreement with players. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he would like up to 16, and recently said he had "no doubt" a team would eventually be based permanently outside the U.S.

The machinery behind it is the Global Markets Program, launched in 2022. Every team owns marketing rights to at least one country, and when a game lands in your market you are the de facto home team. The Rams own Australia, along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the UAE. The Detroit Lions hold Brazil, Germany, Canada, Austria and Switzerland. The Chargers hold Greece, and only Greece.

The problem is the clock. Melbourne kicks off at 10:35 a.m. local on a Friday. Europe's 9:30 a.m. ET slot has rated below Sunday afternoon and night games. Entering this season, 62 regular-season games have been played outside the U.S.

The 49ers flew out Wednesday. The Rams land 24 hours before kickoff.

Would you get up at 3 a.m. to watch a football game?

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