Two international games on the schedule might be exciting for 49ers fans, but it will put a heavy strain on the team’s players when it comes to loss of rest as a result of travel expectations. 

San Francisco’s president of football operations/general manager John Lynch shared on the latest “49ers Talk” podcast that the NFL will do their best to assist the team with the games that bookend their matchups in both Melbourne, Australia and Mexico City. 

“We’ve talked to the league and the league has assured us that they will give us some grace on the back end,” Lynch said. “Things that we’re not going to go into but in terms of scheduling to ease that burden.”  


The last time the 49ers played a game outside of the continental United States was their trip to Mexico City to play the Arizona Cardinals in November of 2022. The team also went through a week of altitude training in Colorado Springs prior to the contest, which meant being away from the Bay Area for an even longer stretch. 

With two international games, there have been no plans solidified yet to prepare for the 7,350-foot elevation of Mexico City. 

“It’s part of another challenge,” Lynch said. “I think we will set a record for the amount of travel in a year. I don’t know if that’s accurate but we always travel a lot. It just got a lot bit more because of the distance of Australia. Part of it is exciting though. We will embrace it. We will make the most of it and we will be smart about the way we will approach it.”

The 49ers fill stadiums wherever they play with one of the best traveling fan bases in the league, if not the best. With the NFL wanting to validate their international popularity, it is an obvious choice to slot the Bay Area team into as many venues as possible. 

“Those decisions have been made,” Lynch said. “We fight for our players. I have always. I think part of the problem is we’ve got a lot of good ones, that are really good draws. People want to see them and the league tends to put the teams in the opening game that they want to showcase.

“Part of you should be flattered. I’ve never been to Australia. I don’t know if I necessarily want to go there for a football game but we’re going and I’m excited to go. I think a lot of out players, what we’ve got to do, is look at all the sports science. How do we take the burden off of our players.”

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