Los Angeles Rams confirmed to play a regular-season NFL game at the MCG

The NFL has confirmed that heavyweights the Los Angeles Rams will head to Australia next year to play a regular season game - but it could pit them against the AFL finals in a major clash.

The Los Angeles Rams have been confirmed as the home team for next year’s NFL extravaganza at the MCG, however a possible clash with the AFL finals looms.

It was revealed by the Sunday Herald Sun earlier this week that an in-season NFL game would be played at the MCG in September, 2026, with the match officially unveiled by the NFL on Thursday morning.

The Rams opponent and the exact date of the clash are yet to be confirmed, but NFL executive of club business and league events Peter O’Reilly forecast the match would be played in week one of the season.

“The Likely scenario would be a week one game, a night game in the US which would be a late morning game in Melbourne, which is not an uncommon thing, certainly in the cricket world,” O’Reilly said from New Orleans on when the match would be played.

The NFL season traditionally begins in early September, and began on September 5 in 2024 which aligned with the first week of the AFL finals last year. One logical solution would be to line the match up with the AFL’s pre-finals bye.

The NFL’s Melbourne arrival could clash with the AFL finals. Picture Lachie Millard

An AFL spokesperson said the league would ensure scheduling of both sports allows fans to experience “the best of both worlds”.

“We have a long history of working with Governments and venues to support major sporting and cultural events,” she said.

“And we will continue to work together to ensure arrangements are in place for our AFL fans and the wider community to experience the best of both worlds.”

Both O’Reilly and Victoria Minister for Sport Steve Dimopoulos spoke glowingly of the AFL’s involvement in securing the multi-year NFL deal.

“I have nothing but respect for the AFL’s work with us in order to land the announcement today,” Dimopoulos said.

“As for the scheduling in more detail I’ll leave that for the NFL to announce at a future time … the AFL have been fantastic in these negotiations.”

O’Reilly added: “This doesn’t happen without the AFL’s partnership as an important player in this conversation, that relationship can grow beyond just being in the same stadium.”

“We can share our best practices, learn from each other, it’s an incredible league and we can … move forward and that partnership and relationship is important to us.”

The Los Angeles Rams are coming to Australia. Picture: Getty

The details of what exactly the multi-year deal details beyond the 2026 game are yet to be confirmed.

“It is a multi-year commitment, which means it’s more than a game, it’s a year-round partnership as we work with Victoria and Melbourne,” O’Reilly said.

“There will be multiple games in the market, what we will work through as we focus first on 2026 in what the right cadence of those games is. It’s multi-year in terms of how we’re partnering and we’ll think about the cadence as we move forward.”

It was also revealed that Sydney and Perth were the other cities which had been vying for the hosting rights of the landmark fixture.

“Australia is fortunate to have multiple fantastic cities and great stadia. Ultimately Melbourne emerged as we think about partnership and locking arms around this historic first game,” O’Reilly said.

Tyler Higbee of the Los Angeles Rams reacts after scoring a touchdown. Picture: Getty

“The partnership with the people here today, the partnership with the stadium, allowed Melbourne to emerge as this first partner. There are great cities across Australia and this is where we’ll take our first step.”

The LA Rams are one of two teams that hold marketing rights into Australia, alongside the Philadelphia Eagles, and president Kevin Demoff noted how significant of a decision it was to sacrifice a home game at the world-class SoFi Stadium.

“To give up a game at SoFi Stadium, it’s the first time we’ve gone international, it had to be a truly meaningful opportunity and this fits the bill,” Demoff said.

“We could not be more excited, as soon as this opportunity came about we were the first to raise our hands and say we want to play… we’ve had so many players talk about Australia and what a meaningful experience it’s been.

“When you think about growing the NFL globally, especially in Los Angeles, we sit in the heart of an international city, virtually every flight from Australia flies right over SoFi Stadium so we’ve always wanted to be the team for Australia.”

Australian Jordan Mailata and the Philadelphia Eagles are rumoured to also be involved. Picture: AFP

The NFL has previously played games across the UK, Germany and Mexico, with Madrid to host a match involving the Miami Dolphins next season. The NFL’s first international game was played overseas in Mexico City in 2005.

In 1999, as part of the NFL’s American Bowl series of international preseason games, the league touched down on the continent with a game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers in Sydney.

The moves comes as part of a strong push from the NFL into the Asia-Pacific and particularly Australia, which has included the creation of an NFL Academy on the Gold Coast and national flag football championships for school kids where the winning team earns a trip to the United States.

“Australia is a really important market for the NFL globally … with nearly seven million fans of the NFL and that’s grown by a million in the past 18 months,” O’Reilly said.

“The MCG is in the heart of the city in Melbourne … we’re really excited to be part of that history making at the MCG.”

Jacinta Allen at Herne Hill Primary School on Friday. Picture: Alan Barber

Premier Jacinta Allan took to the field at the MCG on Thursday, alongside media and football personality Eddie McGuire, to confirm extra details about the deal.

“As of this morning, it’s official: The NFL is coming right here to the G,” she said.

“This is bringing America’s biggest sport to the backyard of Melburnians and Victorians.”

Ms Allan said millions of eyeballs would be on Victoria from around the world, noting every regular season game of the NFL attracts about 20 million viewers.

Mr McGuire said he believed the tickets would sell out in “two seconds”.

“It will be absolutely fantastic, and an opportunity for us, maybe even to break the world record for attendance at an NFL game,” he said.

Penn said economic analysis had been undertaken but refused to provide a figure, also refusing to reveal with their had been a bidding war between the states.

An excited Mr McGuire, however, suggested that there had been a bidding contest “between every state and city in the world”.

“And certainly other states in in Australia wanted it, but this was the natural home the NFL.”

Asked how much taxpayers forked out for the event, Ms Allan said the deal was commercial in confidence, refusing to provide a figure.

Two games have been locked in so far, with an option for a third.

Originally published as Los Angeles Rams confirmed to play a regular-season NFL game at the MCG