More than 100,000 people, the Jonas Brothers and enough NFL merch to start a small country. What is going on in Melbourne?
It’s happening today.
The NFL is officially taking over Melbourne, with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams set to face off at the MCG in the league’s first-ever regular-season game on Australian soil.
And apparently, we’ve decided to go very, very hard.
More than 100,000 fans are expected to pack the MCG for the historic game, while the city has been flooded with NFL jerseys, American football fans and enough hype to make you wonder if Melbourne has temporarily forgotten about the AFL.
The Americans have taken over
Fans have been spotted around Melbourne wearing jerseys from all sorts of NFL teams, not just the Rams and 49ers.
Then there’s the entertainment.
Cody Simpson will perform the Australian national anthem before the Jonas Brothers take over at half-time. Because apparently an NFL game at the MCG wasn’t enough of a spectacle.
And then there’s the jet lag drama
The 49ers arrived in Australia about a week ago to adjust to the time difference.
The Rams have taken a very different approach.
They arrived just 28 hours before the game, with coach Sean McVay deliberately keeping the team on their American body clocks. It’s a risky strategy that could either look incredibly clever… or completely cooked by halftime.
Kick-off was at 10:35am AEST today, so Melbourne is about to find out whether American football really belongs at the MCG.
