The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are heading to Melbourne for Week 1. The NFL made the date and time official on Wednesday. Australia, it is fair to say, is ready.
Over 151,000 people are already on a waiting list for tickets, per the Herald Sun. The Melbourne Cricket Ground seats approximately 100,000. Australian media is calling it the iconic stadium’s greatest rush for passes since Taylor Swift. For context, that is Taylor Swift demand for a football game.
The rest of the details are now locked in too.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground, which seats about 100,000, will be packed to the brim — it’s the iconic stadium’s “greatest rush for passes since Taylor Swift”.
From Australian media @theheraldsun:
What the MCG Means for This Game
GettyA general view during day one of the Fourth Test in the 2025/26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The 49ers will face the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, September 10 at 8:35 p.m. ET. For those in Australia, that means a Friday morning kickoff at 10:35 a.m. local time, courtesy of a 17-hour time difference. The network broadcasting the game has yet to be announced.
It will be the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is not your average venue. It seats approximately 100,000 people and is one of the most iconic sporting stadiums in the world. Rams players Kevin Dotson and Kyren Williams recently visited Melbourne to get a feel for what is coming. Dotson toured the MCG and struggled to find the words to describe the scale of it.
“It was actually kind of hard to imagine myself playing there because the field was such a humongous amount of land,” Dotson said. “Felt like three acres of land. It was just mind blowing to see that like this piece of history for the country was such a… the fact that I’m gonna be there is the thing that’s really gonna be the thing that just wows me. I can’t wait for our teammates to get here and be able to see it.”
NFL players are accustomed to stadiums where the stands sit close to the sidelines. The MCG is a different proposition entirely. The field dimensions will be standard, but the sheer scale of the venue is unlike anything most players will have experienced.
How Tickets Work
The Rams will host the game as the designated home team. Qualifying Rams season-ticket members will have access to an exclusive presale beginning Wednesday, April 1 at 2 p.m. PT. Hospitality packages go on sale Monday, April 6 at 5 p.m. PT through Ticketmaster, with general access tickets available to the public from Tuesday, April 7 at 5 p.m. PT.
Given the 151,000 already on the waiting list, demand is going to significantly outpace supply.
What It Means for the 49ers
GettyBrock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco’s Week 1 game will be the second of the new season. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks open the 2026 campaign on Wednesday, September 9, with an opponent still to be announced.
The travel demands of a Week 1 trip to Australia are significant, but the timing helps. Both teams will have the full offseason to prepare for the journey, and the NFL may factor in an early bye week for the 49ers to help with the turnaround ahead of Week 2.
Either way, the NFC West rivalry is getting a stage unlike anything it has seen before. The MCG. 100,000 fans. September in Melbourne.
Final Word for the 49ers
The date is set. The venue is confirmed. Australian media is already comparing the ticket rush to Taylor Swift.
San Francisco and Los Angeles have played some of the most compelling games in the NFC West in recent years. Week 1 of the 2026 season will take that rivalry somewhere it has never been before.
September 10. Melbourne Cricket Ground. History awaits.
49ers-Rams Australia Game Sparks Taylor Swift-Level Ticket Frenzy