The NFL’s endless quest to develop into a worldwide sport will proceed in 2026 with the boldest worldwide recreation the league has ever floated: An everyday season recreation in Melbourne, Australia.
There’s no query that one of many world’s nice sporting cities deserves to host an NFL recreation — however there are questions surrounding this endeavor which point out that no person spent any time considering this via.
All we all know so far as particulars are that the Rams would be the “home” crew within the matchup, and that it will likely be part of the common season.
It’s going to be a spectacle, to make certain. The recreation itself shall be held on the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), one of many world’s largest and most iconic venues with the flexibility to carry over 100,000 followers. The recreation will seemingly be a sellout, and entice main consideration inside Australia, which is the plan, however there are mammoth hurdles the league hasn’t defined but.
No. 1: The time distinction
It’s one factor to carry NFL video games in Europe with a six or seven hour time distinction, however Australia is nineteen HOURS forward of Los Angeles, and 16 hours forward of the East Coast. If we assume it will likely be an evening recreation beneath the lights then a 7 p.m. kickoff native time in Melbourne shall be midnight on the West Coast, or 3 a.m. ET.
The most sensible can be a mid-afternoon recreation domestically, which might end in a Saturday Night recreation within the USA — however TV scheduling is barely the smallest component of all this.
No. 2: Jet lag
It’s usually accepted that it takes roughly someday, per time zone crossed to totally acclimate to jet lag. This is why groups fly out to England and Germany a couple of days prematurely forward of their video games, so gamers are capable of modify.
Australia is SEVEN time zones aside from the west coast. As somebody who makes the journey from the United States to Australia on a semi-regular foundation it doesn’t take fairly a full week to really feel regular once more, however simply 4-5 days to get used to the huge shift.
This happens each methods, and it’s unclear how the NFL expects gamers to be in peak bodily situation when their sleep patterns are utterly altered like this. It wouldn’t matter in a preseason state of affairs when starters barely play anyway, however when each recreation issues this can be a bizarre alternative.
No. 3: How are they getting there?
The majority of NFL groups fly on Boeing 777 and Boeing 737 widebody airplanes, with customized inside modifications to rework the inside from having over 200 business seats, to 50 pod configurations for gamers to stretch out, with extra seating for help workers.
The concern is that neither the 777, nor the 737 could make the 7,900 mile flight to Melbourne. Even with a logical layover in Hawaii they will’t make the second leg of the flight. In the previous when exhibition video games have been performed in Australia gamers have taken a number of flights, however that ruins the pregame preparation circulate that groups are used to, which is a matter relating to a daily season recreation.
Essentially it will require both groups discovering fully new plane to be customized match for them to make a flight this far, or altering the best way the leadup to the sport is dealt with all collectively.
There’s a logical reply right here the NFL hasn’t explored
Instead of making an attempt to cram an NFL common season recreation into the schedule and play it so many hours away in Australia, why not carry again the Pro Bowl and play that? The motivation for gamers can be the league footing the invoice to fly whole households to Australia, making a once-in-a-lifetime expertise for NFL gamers, whereas soccer followers Down Under would get to see stars from a number of groups, not simply these the league has determined to showcase.
There’s no nice technique to play a recreation so distant, however this ain’t it.