NFL drops bombshell about playing a game Down Under – here’s which Aussie city is in the box seat to make sporting history
- Sydney previously held a pre-season competition
- Now a regular season game is scheduled
- Two cities are chasing the opportunity to host
Australia has been confirmed on a list of potential hosts for an NFL match once the 2025/26 season begins, with officials set to visit potential venues in the coming months with the MCG a possible host venue.
NFL teams LA Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, where Australian Jordan Mailata has become a star, have formal ties with Australia and the league is looking to expand its global footprint.
Mailata is among a group of Australians in the NFL, including punter Tory Taylor who was drafted by the Chicago Bears, Jotham Russell joined the New England Patriots and Patrick Murtagh joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, ensuring a high priority for a potential regular season game .
The NFL has included Australia on a list of countries that could host a regular season match – with the Philadelphia Eagles and their Australian star Jordan Mailata (pictured) among the favorites to play Down Under if the historic move goes ahead
Team owners voted last December to allow the league to host eight international matches each season. Next season matches will be played in London, Germany and Brazil. A competition in Spain is planned for 2025.
The future could sooner or later include a competition in the Asia-Pacific region and Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s head of international affairs, said at the league’s spring meetings that Australia is one of the markets being discussed.
“Australia is one of a group, and it’s not a small group of markets, that we’re looking at,” O’Reilly said after updating the team owners on the list of countries mentioned as possible hosts.
All matches in Australia would likely be played in October and November, leaving major venues including the MCG and Accor Stadium in Sydney lining up to host.
The Los Angeles Rams (quarterback Stetson Bennett, pictured) are a leading contender for the competition, with both they and the Eagles having formal ties to Australia
Melbourne should be in the box seat to host a match after becoming the first Australian city to put its hand up for the match, with the Melbourne Cricket Club reportedly exploring the possibility ahead of the NFL’s announcement on Tuesday.
The MCG traditionally converts to cricket once the AFL season is over, but has previously postponed going to pitches to accommodate other major events including concerts.
On Wednesday, Venues NSW chairman David Gallop also threw Sydney’s hat into the ring.
“We just saw Travis Kelce here with Taylor Swift; let’s get him out here with his helmet and pads for the Kansas City Chiefs,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Accor Stadium hosted a preseason game between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers in 1999.
The match was likely to draw a large crowd with both Melbourne and Sydney vying to bring the match to Australia (pictured, Los Angeles Rams fans earlier this year)
Sydney hosted a preseason game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers in 1999, but a regular season game has never been held (photo, Jordan Mailata, center, playing against the Seattle Seahawks last season)
Knowing what it would take to move games abroad, O’Reilly said the “logistics” of hosting an NFL game so far from the US must be taken into account.
“When you start talking about Asia Pacific and Australia, you start talking about distance and logistics and the football component of that,” O’Reilly said.
‘So those factors are real.
“But our role is to really look at the world, see where the fan base is strong and do our due diligence, make the assessments.”
The NFL’s Australian presence is already set to increase when an official academy opens on the Gold Coast in September.