NFL’s Melbourne Opener Sparks Frenzy, Ticket Issues, Team Unease

The NFL’s historic trip to Australia to help kick off the 2026 regular season is already arriving with some difficulties. 

General ticketing for the upcoming matchup on Sept. 10 in Melbourne between the 49ers and Rams began this week, and within minutes, the Ticketmaster-powered system was flooded with demand far beyond the 100,000-seat capacity of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

More than 151,000 fans registered their interest in buying tickets, and as sales began, virtual lines quickly stretched into the tens of thousands—not unlike those for many other high-profile events—with most seats snapped up within the first half-hour of general sales. Ticket prices that begin at $95 AUS ($67) for standing-room access, and elevate sharply from there into the hundreds of dollars, have drawn local rebuke. 

As of Wednesday morning in the U.S., all that was left for purchase were a small collection of VIP-level tickets beginning at $1,750 AUS ($1,234).

The situation unfolding in Australia for the NFL’s first regular-season game there is somewhat similar to the massive ticket demand the league has seen for its games in Germany in recent years, as that country has become a critical international market. 

Global Push

The NFL’s game in Melbourne is the first of what will be an unprecedented nine international contests in the forthcoming season. The extreme time-zone difference between the U.S. and Australia also forced the league to shift its traditional opening game with the defending Super Bowl champion, this year involving the Seahawks, to a Wednesday slot.  

While the league and many executives for the Rams and 49ers are highly enthused about the opportunity to play in Australia, some others in those organizations have a rather different view, citing the burdens of the long travel.

“I don’t see any pro” to the trip, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said at last week’s NFL annual meeting in Arizona. “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.

“That was our goal, to go 19 hours away to play a game,” Shanahan continued sarcastically. 

For Australian fans, meanwhile, the game will actually happen on a Friday morning locally to help preserve the Thursday primetime broadcast slot back in the U.S. Even with that non-traditional scheduling, the ticket demand reached historic levels. 

The U.S. broadcaster of the game, meanwhile, has not been finalized.