The National Football League (NFL) will touch down at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from next year.
Announced today, February 6th, the spiritual home of Aussie rules football will welcome the Los Angeles Rams in 2026, for what will be the first ever NFL regular season game played in these parts.
The Victorian State Government and the NFL has struck a multi-year commitment for regular season games at the MCG, with the Rams selected as the designated team. The league has yet to announce the Rams’ opponent, the game date or kick-off time.
Showcasing gridiron in Australia is all part of a global reach-out for the NFL, one of America’s four major professional codes alongside the NBA, NHL and MLB.
“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 statement.
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“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.”
Adds Jacinta Allan, premier of Victoria: “We’re thrilled the NFL will be touching down in the sporting capital of Australia. Victoria is now the first-ever state in Australia to host a regular-season NFL game. It’s a win for jobs, a win for businesses and a win for fans who will get to see American football played at the iconic MCG.”
The Rams, two-time winners of the Super Bowl (1999 and 2021), hold marketing rights in Australia as part of the league’s Global Markets Program, a project that awards NFL clubs international rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S., through fan engagement, events and commercial opportunities. The Philadelphia Eagles franchise also has those rights.
Melbourne, a city that makes a strong claim to be the sporting capital of Australia, if not the world, has hosted the Olympic Games (in 1956), the Commonwealth Games (2006), is home to cricket’s Boxing Day Test, and is the birthplace of our national game, Aussie rules. More NBA No. 1 draft picks were born in Melbourne than any other city.
The NFL enters a marketplace loaded with contact sports, led by the AFL and NRL, whose Melbourne Storm franchise is a perennial heavyweight, plus the NBL, which boasts two Melbourne-based teams.
Major League Baseball played ball in Australia for the first time in 2014, with the Dodgers and D-backs starting their regular season with two games in Sydney. The NBA has resisted efforts to play regular season games in the land Down Under, one of the Association’s most fanatical international markets.
As part of its global commitment, the NFL has already confirmed games in London, Berlin and Madrid.
