The Rams are taking their annual showdown with the 49ers almost 8,000 miles from SoFi Stadium, but San Francisco’s fan base appears ready to make the trip in spirit.
Los Angeles will be listed as the home team when the NFC West rivals face off Sept. 10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site of the NFL’s first regular-season game ever played in Australia.
Still, the atmosphere in Melbourne may not exactly resemble a Rams home-field advantage.
Data provided by the NFL to The Athletic shows the 49ers are the league’s most popular franchise in Australia, while the Rams sit at No. 7. That edge is especially notable because San Francisco has developed its Australian following without official marketing rights in the country, a designation the Rams have held since 2021.
Charlotte Offord, the NFL’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, pointed to the 49ers’ powerhouse run in the 1980s as a major reason for their enduring popularity, noting that the team’s rise came as Australian audiences were beginning to discover the NFL.
“I think that comes from being one of the top teams in the ’80s, when a lot of people here consumed the NFL,” Offord told The Athletic. “And a lot of people continued to follow those top teams.”
The 49ers are leaning into that advantage, announcing a week of Melbourne events designed to “paint Melbourne red,” while thousands of their famously well-traveled fans are expected to make the trip.
That could feel familiar to the Rams, who have repeatedly watched 49ers supporters flood SoFi Stadium during the rivalry.
But Australia also gives Los Angeles something it rarely gets in those games: a chance to win over an audience that has not already picked a side.
The Rams arrive with the kind of roster capable of making a strong first impression. Matthew Stafford leads an offense coming off a 12-win season, while a defense featuring Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald and Trent McDuffie has helped turn Los Angeles into one of the NFL’s most intimidating teams on paper.
For a growing Australian audience experiencing its first regular-season NFL game in person, that matters. The 49ers may enter Melbourne with the larger established following, but the Rams have an opportunity to convert some of the spectators who are still choosing an NFL allegiance.
The 100,000-seat MCG may start with plenty of red.
A convincing Rams performance could ensure not everyone leaves wearing it.