New details have been revealed regarding the Los Angeles Rams' 2026 Australia game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Los Angeles Rams will head to Australia in 2026 to take on their bitter arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.
The news of these two division rivals was revealed during the 2025 season, and it is set for Week 1. However, new details have been released regarding the eagerly anticipated match-up between the two teams.
The game is still set for Week 1 of the season; however, it won't be the first game of the 2026 season. According to Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal, there will be a Wednesday night game on NBC to open the season – a slot that’s typically reserved for the defending Super Bowl champions.
The Rams-49ers matchup will be on Thursday night in Week 1.
It's unclear who will play on Wednesday night, but the first game of the season typically goes to the Super Bowl champions. This season, that spot will go to the Seattle Seahawks.
Their opponent is unclear as things stand.
The Rams and 49ers will both open their seasons in Australia. It will be the historic first-ever regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia. The game will be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), in partnership with the Victorian State Government and Visit Victoria.
The game in Melbourne will be part of an NFL record nine international games in 2026 across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums.
Los Angeles Rams president Kevin Demoff spoke on the opportunity of his team being the first to play a regular season game in Australia.
"As we make history with the NFL and bring the first regular season game to Australia, we are pleased to take our annual match-up against our NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers to the MCG," Demoff said. "Since we first secured marketing rights to the country in 2021 and more recently since the announcement of this game last year, we have seen tremendous excitement for our team from fans both in Australia and also across the world. We look forward to spending this offseason continuing to deepen our connection with the Melbourne community leading up to the game this fall."
The NFL will allow the Rams and 49ers extra travel time between games as they will get set for Week 2 after that matchup.
It's unclear which network will broadcast the Rams-49ers game. Nonetheless, they wil be on primetime, something that they've become accustomed to since head coach Sean McVay has been at the helm.