Live: Rams and 49ers arrive at MCG ahead of historic Australian NFL match

So you’ve heard all about the NFL coming to Australia, and you’ve decided to see what it’s all about.

This is your quick guide to the offence.

The offence is the team with the ball. There are 11 players on the field. Their job is to advance the ball up the field and try to score.

You can advance the ball by either running with it, or throwing it down the field and having a receiver catch it.

At the start of a possession, the offence has four plays (known as downs) to advance the ball 10 yards.

If they achieve the 10 yards, their downs are reset, and they must advance ball another 10 yards from where the ball is.

Of the 11 players on the field for the offence:

• There are very large men who are responsible for blocking defenders and protecting their teammates
• There are players who run the ball
• There are players who run down the field and catch the ball
• And there is the quarterback, who calls the play, reads the defence, makes adjustments to the play, then either hands the ball to a runner, throws the ball to a receiver, or runs the ball himself.

We are just about an hour away from kickoff, and there is little doubt that this will be a sellout.

About half the spectators look like they’ve found their seats, with even seats at the very top of the ground looking jam-packed.

There are still thousands of fans enjoying the festivities outside the MCG and slowly making their way in.

The security being organised from a little further out of the stadium makes it really easy for fans to stream in and out without having to wait in huge queues.

I’ve got to say, for such a huge event, at least so far, this looks like it has been planned absolutely superbly.

You cannot help but be excited at ground level.

Yarra Park has been abuzz with activity all week as workers transform the MCG into an NFL stadium.

Much of the livery was put in place by work crews by Thursday, gift-wrapped and ready for unveiling on Friday morning.

Unlike a normal AFL match, fans will have to undergo security screening at a secured perimeter at Yarra Park before making their way to the stadium.

Jamie and Carmen made the journey all the way from California to the MCG for the game, flouting some unwritten laws about fraternising with the enemy before a game.

“We’re opposing teams; she likes the Rams from Los Angeles, I like San Francisco 49ers,” Jamie said.

“Typically, hanging out is forbidden in those places, so we thought if we come here it would be okay.”

Jamie didn’t miss the opportunity in front of the camera to make a pitch for his team.

“People like San Francisco more because San Francisco has a history of gold mining, being the wild west, rough-and-tumble just like Australia when they had a gold rush,” Jamie said.

“Look at this guy!” Carmen said, laughing in disbelief.

Two enormously well-resourced teams; two diametrically opposed strategies for managing one of the world’s most arduous sporting road trips.

To prepare, the 49ers flew in a week earlier and have embarked on a series of PR appearances across the city — lauding local baristas and watching Geelong defeat Carlton in an AFL final — while the Rams arrived yesterday morning, just 24 hours before the historic clash.

Only one strategy can prevail.

You can read the full story by ABC Sport’s Kate O’Halloran by tapping the link below.

Ahead of the NFL’s debut at the MCG, the San Francisco 49ers have embraced Australia and been embraced right back. But have the LA Rams missed an opportunity to throw their arms around the locals, particularly given this is supposed to be their party?

You can read Simon Smale’s full piece by tapping the link below.

Here’s a pub quiz stat for you: the MCG will become the fifth stadium to host an NFL game and the opening/closing ceremony of an Olympic Games.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1932, 1984), Berlin’s Olympiastadion (1936), London’s Wembley (1940) and the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro (2016) have all hosted an Olympic Games opening ceremony, as did the MCG in 1956.

The Stade de France (closing ceremony at Paris 2024) will join that list when it hosts its first game later in the season.

Given the Rams are the home team, they will now have hosted matches at two different Olympic stadiums, having played at the Coliseum between 1946 and 1979 and 2016 and 2019.

Perhaps less surprisingly, the MCG is the first stadium to have hosted a Cricket World Cup final and an NFL regular-season game, so there is that.

At 100,022, the stadium has the largest capacity of any that the league will use this season.

Heading into the 2026 season, there have been 62 regular-season NFL games played outside the US.

Starting in 2005 with Mexico City, the NFL has gradually expanded its global reach, with games in nine different cities so far, with two more added in 2026.

Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro join London, Mexico City, Toronto, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, São Paulo and Madrid in hosting regular-season matches.

The idea is to spread the gospel and increase the global presence of a league that has no international competition outside the US.

I’ve been here for grand finals and Boxing Day Tests, and I can safely say that there has never been such a great atmosphere outside the stadium.

We are still hours away from kick-off, and fans are streaming in from all corners of the planet, it seems.

The Netflix broadcast is shooting a pre-game show from outside the MCG, and John Farnham is blaring too.

Absolutely brilliant scenes.

It may be early on a Friday morning, but everyone is absolutely up for this.

We are less than two hours from kick-off for this Week 1 match between NFC West division rivals — LA Rams and San Francisco 49ers.

The players and coaches have arrived at the MCG.