The National Football League is preparing for its historic debut in Australia, with a huge logistical operation required to organize the match between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. The league has sent dozens of tons of equipment and more than 200 of its employees to Melbourne, Reuters reports.
The match will be held on September 11 at the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground, which can accommodate about 100,000 spectators. To transform the stadium into a suitable facility for American football, as it is traditionally associated primarily with cricket and Australian rules football.
The league must transport a huge amount of specific equipment needed to hold the match and its television broadcast. According to Reuters, the shipment is estimated to weigh around 59 tonnes, and the operation has been planned for nearly two years.
For the NFL, Australia is an important strategic market. The league already claims to have around 8.8 million fans in the country, and the aim is to continue to grow the popularity of American football.
The Rams-49ers game is part of the NFL's largest international schedule in history, which will include nine games outside the US in 2026.