The 49ers are not happy about traveling to Australia, but Goodell doesn't think it will be an issue
By John Breech Apr 10, 2026 at 2:02 pm ET • 4 min read 
Getty Images With the NFL set to hold its first game ever in Australia, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in Melbourne this week to visit the area. The historical Week 1 game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, an iconic Australian stadium that seats more than 100,000.
During his trip Down Under, Goodell held a press conference where he touched on multiple topics, including the NFL's future in Australia and the fact that the 49ers don't sound very excited about making the trip. At the NFL's Annual League Meeting, coach Kyle Shanahan said there was no benefit to his team playing in Australia.
"I don't see any pro," Shanahan said on March 30, via ESPN. "It's cool for the league to play globally. I think that's awesome. But as far as the team doing it, no, there's not much benefit to it."
At another point during the week, Shanahan said that the only reason the 49ers were picked for the game is because the Rams lobbied for to play San Francisco (The Seahawks were pushing to play in the game, but the NFL decided to send the 49ers instead).
During his press confefence, Goodell was asked about Shanahan's comments.
"Coaches have a focus on winning, that's their number one job," Goodell said, via ESPN Australia. "Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach and also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win. I always like to say that coaches like to play at [1 p.m.] and [4 p.m.] and don't get in the way of that."
Several 49ers players, including Christian McCaffrey, have complained about the length of the trip and the 17-hour time difference between Melbourne and the West Coast. The time difference is likely another reason why Shanahan isn't thrilled about playing Down Under. Before this week, Goodell had never been to Australia, but after making the trip, the NFL Commissioner said that the time difference shouldn't be an issue.
"I have an app for [Shanahan], which I'm going to send to him," Goodell said. "My wife hooked me up with an app, and I got to tell you, I feel great. I have not felt any jet lag at all. We've been here since Tuesday morning and I thought it was a relatively easy trip."
Goodell promised that the NFL would make things as comfortable as possible for the teams involved in the game.
"We're going to make it a great experience for the team. That's one of the things we focus on," Goodell said.
NFL teams better get used to the idea of playing in Australia because it sounds like the league plans on making this a regular thing.
NFL's future plans in Australia
When the NFL originally announced its plans to play in Australia back in February 2025, the league mentioned that a "multi-year" agreement was in place. At the time, the expectation was that the the NFL would eventually hold more games in Australia and Goodell confirmed that plan during his trip to Melbourne.
"Well, we always like to say we're going to play and then we'll announce, but there's no question that we're going to be playing here again," Goodell said. "Our view is that we're coming here for the long term. We don't come as a one-off. This isn't a circus. This is something that's an investment in this market and we believe that this is long term and will be great for the NFL long term."
The NFL considered both Sydney and Perth for possibly hosting a game before ultimately settling on Melbourne.
When asked specifically if the NFL would be holding a game Down Under in 2027, Goodell wasn't quite ready to confirm that, but he said that it "might" happen.
One thing that could help Australia's chances for getting a game in 2027 is the fact that the ticket demand has been through the roof for this year's game, which is something the NFL took notice of. Tickets for the game went on sale last week and sold out within minutes.
"Every ticket that we put out for public sale was gone in a matter of minutes," Goodell said. "I think that's a demonstration of the demand for this event."
The NFL is expecting more than 100,000 fans for the game. The capacity at McG is 100,024, but that likely won't set a league record. The highest attendance ever for a regular-season game came back in 2009 when 105,121 showed up for the opening of Dallas' new AT&T Stadium, which featured the Cowboys playing the Giants. Even if the record doesn't get broken, the league will certainly be thrilled to see 100,000 fans show up for a game that's being played more than 10,000 miles away from the NFL's headquarters in New York City.
The game between the 49ers and Rams will be kicking off at 10:35 a.m. on Friday Sept. 11 in Australia, which will create an 8:35 p.m. ET kickoff time on Thursday night in the United States.
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