Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The NFL has given its strongest indication yet that it wants to stage an annual regular-season game in Australia.
Ahead of the first regular-season fixture in Australia between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers at the MCG next Friday, NFL bigwig Peter O’Reilly has declared there will be more.
The league had already signed a deal with Victoria to host two confirmed games over a four-year period, with an option for a third.
But O’Reilly is already thinking bigger, while the NFL’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand wouldn’t rule out sharing games with other states.
Tickets for the landmark Melbourne fixture are largely sold out despite the match starting at 10.35am AEST on a weekday.
“This is not the circus coming to town,” O’Reilly, the executive vice-president who oversees the NFL’s international arm, told reporters.
“This is not us just coming for one game.
“This is part of a long-term commitment to Australia and the region of bringing games year round.
“We want to be there with games on a regular annual basis, and we want to commit to everything else that we’re doing in markets around the world that includes building partnerships, building grassroots.
“We see it as a long-haul partnership for sure.”
Although the Rams were chosen as the “home team” as they have marketing rights in Australia, other franchises with rights in the country include reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks, 2025 winners Philadelphia Eagles, and the Las Vegas Raiders.
O’Reilly said officials hadn’t begun thinking about which franchises would play in next year’s edition, but added they would prioritise teams with Australian deals.
“We do look to pair up, where we can, those teams that have rights in the market with games in the market,” he said.
The prospect of the Eagles and the Seahawks coming to Australia appears particularly likely, as offensive tackle and Sydneysider Jordan Mailata plays for Philadelphia while Seattle’s punter Michael Dickson is also from NSW.
It comes after Dickson admitted to AAP that Seattle’s snub for the inaugural Australian game stung and he had lobbied for the Super Bowl champions to take part.
The MCG faces a juggling act when it comes to hosting future NFL games, especially after the AFL announced on Wednesday it was moving its season back a week.
That could create a scenario where four AFL finals are in Melbourne in the same week as the NFL fixture, assuming the latter wants to go with another opening-round game.
O’Reilly said they would work to find a solution with the MCG and AFL, saying for this year’s fixture the ground had already committed to changing the grass following Geelong and Carlton’s clash on Friday night.
But Charlotte Offord also said moving games to other cities was a possibility.
“We have a multi-year deal … with Victoria right now. But I would say … never say never in terms of where games could go in the future across Australia,” Offord, the NFL’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, said.
“Having gone from 5.7 million fans to 8.8 million in such a short space of time … there is an appetite for a game in the market.”
