The Rams and 49ers play in the NFL’s inaugural Australia game
The NFL is trying to increase international revenue and grow its fanbase around the world. In short: money.
• less than 3 min read
The real star of the Rams vs. 49ers game in Australia tonight is whoever has been managing the spreadsheet of players’ passport statuses.
For the NFL’s first regular season game played in the country, both teams had to manage the logistical behemoth of playing nearly 8,000 miles from home. That meant everything from navigating jet lag to getting cleats through customs had the potential to derail the game before anyone even stepped on the field.
One of the biggest hurdles for players was adjusting to the 17-hour time difference in Melbourne:
- To prepare for the 10:35am local time kickoff, the 49ers left San Francisco over a week ago to acclimate to their new bedtime.
- The Rams decided to take the opposite approach and left Tuesday night, only about 24 hours before kickoff, opting to have the team sleep on the 16-hour flight.
More than a carry-on. Australia also has some of the strictest biodiversity rules, so teams had to make sure gear was free of grass and dirt before trying to get it through customs. While the Rams sent an entire shipping container of food and supplies overseas months ago, they still had to get 90 trunks of equipment—weighing about 25,000 pounds—halfway around the world this week.
What’s the point of all this? The NFL is trying to increase international revenue and grow its fanbase around the world. In short: money.—MM
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