Melbourne, Australia is reportedly set to host multiple NFL matches from 2026 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

According to the Herald Sun, Melbourne will become the latest city to host an NFL match as the league looks to increase its international presence. The news outlet has tipped the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles as the two franchises to play in October, as both own Australian marketing rights. 

As per the report, this will be just one of up to three matches hosted in the city, which are predicted to generate millions of dollars for the local economy. Currently, it is believed that Melbourne will be the only Australian city to host matches. 

NFL officials are said to have visited the MCG to see if it is suitable to host games. The MCG is the home of Melbourne Football Club and has a capacity of 100,000 – the eleventh largest stadium in the world. 

Felicia Mariani, Chief of the Victorian Tourism Industry Council, told the Herald Sun: “Anything like this is so incredibly important for continuing to grow our industry but also continuing to put Victoria on the global stage.

“If these matches are in fact part of a regular season and not just friendly exhibition matches, it makes an enormous difference to the audience in the US that will watch. There is no sport in the world that has the attraction and the audience as the NFL does in the US.”

The UK has witnessed first-hand the economic benefits of hosting regular season NFL games, with London being the longest-running host city of international games since 2007 – nine years before Mexico hosted a game in 2016 and 15 years before Germany hosted in 2022.

However, these international games aren’t only about generating money. The NFL has used its London matches to grow flag football, a grassroots level of the sport, which reached over 100,000 young people in 2024. 

This report, if true, will put the icing on the cake for the NFL, which has been strategically targeting growth in Oceania for some time. In 2022, the league made Charlotte Offord the General Manager of the NFL for Australia and New Zealand.

At the time of her promotion, Offord said: “Australia and New Zealand are both countries that already have a rich sporting culture so I am looking forward to bringing sports fans in these territories closer to the game of American football.”

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