Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
The MCG was the only choice: Why the NFL has chosen wisely with Melbourne
Gerard Whateley • February 3rd, 2025 12:03 pm
Super Bowl week is set to take hold.
And it’s a week with substantial meaning for Australia.
All Pro offensive tackle Jordan Mailata continues the quest to be the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl winning team.
And matters are poised for the announcement that Melbourne will host NFL regular season games beginning in 2026.
All involved are tight lipped in response to yesterday’s story in the Sunday Herald Sun but there is a delegation from Melbourne bound for New Orleans in the coming days that has all the trappings of an official announcement.
It’s a quantum leap for major international team sport in Australia.
Typically such events have been friendlies or exhibition matches. The chance to see the shirt and the stars but not the authentic show.
Pre-season tours or post-season matches, warmups for World Cups or Olympics.
It’s usually been a taste, but also something of tease.
Ange’s homecoming mattered more than Tottenham’s performance at the MCG.
Lionel Messi graced the hallowed turf for Argentina twice in friendlies.
The Boomers beat Team USA - minus the iconic names - at Marvel in preparation for a World Cup.
The exception was Major League Baseball’s bold decision to open the 2014 season at the SCG with the LA Dodgers.
But regular season NFL games is the jackpot when it comes to US sport on our shores.
And much as it might irk our Sydney friends, the MCG was the only choice.
The country’s biggest and most revered stadium will be a spectacular setting for the American audience and it comes at a time of soaring popularity for the NFL in Australia.
There are petty cross-boarder jealousies when it comes to the sporting capital.
One northern scribe tried to pretend Sydney’s staging of the World Cup Rugby Final made a mockery of Victoria’s boast.
And in Adelaide they chose the exact wrong moment to question the status of the Boxing Day Test – right before it broke the crowd record that had stood since Bradman’s days.
A record-setting Australian Open. A sold-out and resurgent Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The staples of the AFL calendar. The Melbourne Cup being restored.
Even Taylor Swift knew the MCG was the place to be and she was richly rewarded for that choice.
The NFL has chosen wisely.
The real thing is coming to Melbourne… and it’ll be ginormous.
