{"id":732207,"date":"2026-02-05T23:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/732207\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:32:21","slug":"robert-irwin-reveals-san-francisco-49ers-will-play-los-angeles-rams-in-blockbuster-mcg-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/732207\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Irwin reveals San Francisco 49ers will play Los Angeles Rams in blockbuster MCG clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first ever regular-season NFL<\/a> clash to be held in Australia is on its way to the Melbourne Cricket Ground this year, and will feature a historic clash between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n

Wildlife conservationist and Aussie icon Robert Irwin broke the news in the US when appearing on the Pat McAfee Show overnight.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Robert Irwin reveals Rams to play 49ers at MCG.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Irwin, with a snake around his neck, was a guest on the popular show, when McAfee quizzed him about the match-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t known who\u2019s playing but I believe you are the only human maybe on Earth (who knows) … you do, look at those eyebrows,\u201d McAfee said as Irwin grinned.<\/p>\n

Irwin said: \u201cOf course, the NFL is coming Down Under to Melbourne. We know the Rams are playing but what we don\u2019t know is who their opponent will be, but I can say for the first time, they are going to be up against …. well, we\u2019re here in San Francisco … so it can only be the 49ers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news brought immediate excitement within the studio with a surprised McAfee applauding and saying: \u201c\u201cWow … that\u2019s gonna be a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iriwn said: \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be huge. The love for NFL is real in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game is gonna inspire the next generation of Aussies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFL also confirmed the blockbuster match-up which will be one of nine international games in 2026 across \u2060four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums, with Melbourne joining London (three games), Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Munich, Madrid and Paris as hosts.<\/p>\n

The NFL said the match, the date and time of which has yet to be announced, would be staged in partnership with the Victorian State Government and Visit Victoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we continue our preparations for the NFL\u2019s first-ever regular season game at the MCG in Melbourne, we are delighted that the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Rams,\u201d said NFL Australia and New Zealand general manager Charlotte Offord.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 49ers are a popular franchise within the Australian market, and this rivalry game solidifies what we know is going to be an incredible NFL experience for our fans Down Under.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time Super Bowl winners, the Rams, are the \u2018home\u2019 team for the Melbourne clash, while the 49ers are another storied franchise with five \u2018world championship\u2019 triumphs to their name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a terrific opportunity to continue to support the league in its mission to grow the game of football,\u201d said Al Guido, CEO of the 49ers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to working with the NFL to benefit local Australian communities through sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RobertRobert Irwin broke the NFL news when appearing on the Pat McAfee Show. Credit: @PatMcAfeeShow<\/p>\n

The news comes in a week when Sydney-born star punter Michael Dickson will be featuring in the Super Bowl for the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we make history with the NFL and bring the first regular season game to Australia, we are pleased to take our annual match-up against our NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers to the MCG,\u201d added Rams president Kevin Demoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we first secured marketing rights to the country in 2021 and more recently since the announcement of this game last year, we have seen tremendous excitement for our team from fans both in Australia and also across the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to spending this off-season continuing to deepen our connection with the Melbourne community leading up to the game this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan enthused: \u201cBringing the NFL to the MCG is a huge win both on and off the field and hosting a team like the San Francisco 49ers will make it even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t wait to welcome these two great teams to Melbourne and showcase the best of our city and our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

– With 7NEWS.com.au<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bizarre \u2018penis injecting\u2019 claims sparks Winter Olympics storm<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Mixed news for Aussie punters as Super Bowl locked in<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first ever regular-season NFL clash to be held in Australia is on its way to the Melbourne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,5578,1014,58,2444,2611,6,424,7555,817],"class_list":["post-732207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-football","tag-lifestyle","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-nfl","tag-rams","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116020639035202289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}