About the 2026 NFL Melbourne Game
In February 2025, the NFL announced the Melbourne Cricket Ground had been chosen to host a regular season game of the USA's most popular sport.
The historic matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers was held on Friday September 11, 2026 at the MCG.
The game was part of the NFL’s International Series, and was the first-ever regular season NFL game in Australia.
Few rivalries in the NFL are as storied as that between NFC West division’s Rams and 49ers. Fans travelled to witness the occasion, watching as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 27-7.
The 2026 NFL Melbourne Game saw 100,021 fans pack the MCG and drew 21.7 million viewers globally, from over 200 countries and territories.
Gallery - 2026 NFL Melbourne Game
NFL at the MCG statistics
2026
first-ever regular season NFL game held in Australia
100,021
attendees at the 2026 NFL Melbourne Game
7th highest
attendance for an NFL regular season match in history (as at 2026)
From the Day
American Football at the 'G in history
There have been two recorded American football matches at the MCG in the 20th century. The first American football match played on the MCG was in 1908 between sailors of the USS Minnesota and the USS Kentucky. Both ships had arrived in Melbourne with the United States’ Great White Fleet. The game consisted of two 15-minute halves and neither side scored.
The MCG was commandeered as a military base during World War II from April 7, 1942. The 1st US Marines Division would be stationed here from January 1943 to October 1943. On April 4, 1943 an American football game was played at the Punt Road Oval, which is adjacent to the MCG, between a team of Marines based at the MCG and the Marines camped at Mount Martha. A crowd of 18,000 attended the game and the result was a scoreless tie.
