San Francisco and Los Angeles open the 2026 season nearly 8,000 miles from home, meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the NFL’s first regular-season game on Australian soil.
Kickoff for the Rams-49ers matchup lands at 8:35 p.m. ET and 5:35 p.m. PT in the United States on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Because Melbourne runs well ahead on the clock, the opening kickoff arrives at 10:35 a.m. AEST on Friday, Sept. 11, with an American Thursday night actually an Australian Friday morning. Netflix’s pregame coverage starts two hours earlier, at 6:30 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. PT.
The extended trip adds a wrinkle beyond time zones. San Francisco arrived in Melbourne nearly a week before kickoff, while Los Angeles didn’t land until roughly a day before the opening whistle, according to CBS Sports’ preview of the matchup.
That Friday-morning slot is unusual by American standards, and in fact appears to be the earliest any NFL game has ever kicked off, in local time — that is, in the country and time zone where the game took place.
The earliest international game before Thursday was the 2014 Detroit Lions–Falcons game at Wembley Stadium in London. That game started at 1:30 p.m. local time in London, which was 9:30 a.m. ET and 6:30 a.m. PT in the United States.
How to Watch in the U.S. and Australia
Netflix carries the broadcast exclusively in the United States, with Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly calling the action from the booth.
Local affiliates KNBC in Los Angeles and NBC Bay Area will simulcast the Netflix feed for viewers in each team’s home market. In Australia, the game airs free-to-air on Channel 7, streams on 7plus Sport and Kayo Sports, and broadcasts on radio via Triple M and SEN.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground’s Football Roots
Known simply as “the G,” the MCG has stood in Yarra Park since 1853 and now holds a capacity of over 100,000. It hosted Australia’s first Test cricket match against England in 1877 and has served as the spiritual home of Australian rules football since the sport’s earliest days, staging nearly every VFL and AFL grand final since 1902. The stadium also anchored the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
American football has been played at “the G” before. In 1908, sailors from the USS Minnesota and USS Kentucky played a gridiron exhibition there during the Great White Fleet’s world tour, a scoreless tie contested in two 15-minute halves. Thursday marks the first time an NFL regular-season game has been played at the venue.
Both franchises arrive off matching 12-5 seasons that ended in losses to the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. The Rams overhauled their defense by acquiring Trent McDuffie via trade from Kansas City and signing his former Chiefs running mate Jaylen Watson, then added Myles Garrett, who set the single-season sack record with 23 last year in Cleveland before Los Angeles traded for him this offseason.
Aaron Donald came out of retirement to rejoin the Rams but will not play or travel for the opener in Australia.
San Francisco countered by signing receiver Mike Evans and trading for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, while defensive coordinator Raheem Morris welcomes back Nick Bosa and Fred Warner from major injuries alongside George Kittle.
Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy anchor an offense leaning on that continuity against a Rams team favored by 3.5 points, with the total set at 48.5.
What Time Does 49ers-Rams Game Start in Australia? How to Watch in U.S.