49ers Open NFL Season in Melbourne as Australia's Top NFL Team — SkimNews
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- The San Francisco 49ers open the 2025 NFL season Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground, nearly 8,000 miles and a 16-hour flight from San Francisco.
- Charlotte Offord, the NFL's Australia and New Zealand general manager, says the 49ers are Australia's most popular team, a fandom she traces to nostalgia for the Montana-Rice dynasty of the 1980s and '90s.
- 175,000 fans registered interest in the Melbourne game for a 100,000-seat stadium, with tickets selling out in roughly two hours; 48% of buyers came from overseas or another Australian state, and 10-12% from the United States.
- United Airlines reported SFO-to-Melbourne bookings up 65% year-over-year for this week, while 49ers jerseys ranked third in Australian sales last year behind the Seahawks and Patriots, with Christian McCaffrey's No. 23 leading all players.
- 49ers CEO Al Guido said the team won't rush to add Australia to its international marketing territories (currently the UK, UAE, and Mexico), insisting any expansion would need "full resources" rather than "land grabbing."
- Australian fans Huw Davies (a 49ers devotee since 1989, when his father returned from a U.S. business trip with NFL hats) and Harry Murtough secured tickets and are bringing their families — Davies' 7-year-old son Flynn and Murtough's 75-year-old father Richard.
Why it matters: The 49ers' massive Australian following — built since the Montana-Rice era — shows the NFL's international push has produced genuine, multi-generational fanbases abroad: 175,000 people registered interest in 100,000 seats, and United Airlines reported SFO-Melbourne bookings up 65% year-over-year. The Rams-49ers opener is the league's Australia debut.
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