NFL to play first regular-season game in Australia in 2026
The NFL’s international expansion is pushing all the way into yet another continent.
The league will hold its first ever regular-season game in Australia in 2026, it announced Wednesday. The game will be held at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest stadium in the southern hemisphere, with the Los Angeles Rams set to be one of the participants.
“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. “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 and Philadelphia Eagles are the two NFL teams with marketing rights in Australia as part of the league’s Global Markets Program.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said at Super Bowl Opening Night that he did not want his team to play in 2026, as it would necessitate surrendering one of the nine home games.
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‘We’ve fully endorsed the globalization of the sport,’ Lurie said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘We love our superstar from Australia (left tackle Jordan Mailata). We’re a natural team to play there; we are a marketing partner with Australia and New Zealand, we’re one of the designated partners. So if there’s an opportunity to be an away team there, we will embrace that.’
The league has continued to expand its international presence, with the Eagles and Green Bay Packers this season playing the first game in South America in a Week 1 matchup in São Paolo, Brazil.
