When the San Francisco 49ers arrive in Melbourne for the first NFL game played in Australia, they will bring thousands from their red army of 23 million Americans, a cohort of around 200 players, staff and cheerleaders, plus iconic figures from their storied past.
San Francisco’s legendary four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, Joe Montana, is coming to the September 11 game at the MCG, in tow with the whole organisation, which is optimistic that the other two most hallowed Niners from their past, Montana’s successor Steve Young and wide receiver nonpareil Jerry Rice, will be part of a large travelling party.
While the MCG game – brokered between the Victorian state government and the NFL in a multi-year deal – will be hosted by San Francisco’s principal rival, the Los Angeles Rams, the 49ers say they are the most followed NFL team in Australia, according to NFL data, and they aim “to paint Melbourne red” for the NFL’s first foray into the Australian market.
“Our goal is to paint Melbourne red,” said vice president of marketing for the 49ers, Stephanie Rogers, in Melbourne on Wednesday. “We want all the faithful to come in, wear their red jerseys and have a good time, and pile into that stadium.”
No one can put the finger on precisely how many 49ers – and Rams – fans will fly from the USA, and particularly California, for the game, which will be broadcast on Netflix (the streamer, like Amazon, having gained a toehold in the vast broadcast audiences for the NFL).
The game will feature current NFL MVP, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and his highly rated 49ers counterpart – known as “Mr Irrelevant” when picked last in the 2022 draft – Brock Purdy.
Rogers said the demand for the game was such that, after the 49ers were announced as the Rams’ opponent, the waiting list for tickets reached 100,000 before they went on sale and the Niners believed that upwards of 10,000 of their fans would travel to Melbourne.
“Obviously, there’s a lot [of 49ers fans] here in the country, but we’ll expect a lot travelling [too]. You’ll get over 10,000 [49ers fans] coming. I would imagine that there’s going to be over 10,000 fans, travelling I mean.”
The 49ers have the fourth-largest fan base in the US (the Dallas Cowboys are first), but Rogers said their fans “are the highest-travelling in the NFL.”
The 49ers were not party to the deal that the NFL struck with the Victorian government, and nor were the Rams, who were keen to take up the home-game rights to the clash, which will be played at 10.35am on the Friday morning of the AFL’s semi-final weekend – forcing a rapid turnaround at the MCG if finals are played in Melbourne that weekend.
While the Niners were, in effect, drafted by the NFL to take part in the game – they had heard talk that it would be the Seattle Seahawks, the reigning Super Bowl champions (from the same NFC west division) – they are viewing the game as a marketing and growth opportunity and novel experience. San Francisco have played a home game in Mexico City, and are scheduled to do so again this year as part of the NFL international expansion agenda.
Rogers said the players and coaches would arrive a week before the game after the long 14-or-so-hour flight from San Francisco. “We’re going to make the most of it … They’re elite athletes, they’re going to be ready to compete. It’s a very important game, that versus the Rams, it’s a divisional opponent, [and] first game of the season.”
The Rams have provided further frisson for the American media covering the game this week by trading for the NFL’s leading defensive star Myles Garrett (from the Cleveland Browns) in a swap with their own young defensive pass rusher, Jared Verse; Melbourne will be Garrett’s first game in new colours.
The 49ers expect injured star linebacker Fred Warner to return for the MCG, and said cult figure and tight end George Kittle and defensive end Nick Bosa were also “trending well” in recovering to play in Melbourne.
“Joe Montana is definitely coming,” said Rogers of the 49ers’ past greats who will join the team’s trip. “Steve [Young] we believe, will be here. We’ve got several conversations with our alumni. We’ve chatted quite a lot to Jerry [Rice], I know he wants to get out here as well.”
The MCG’s vast size and oval shape is a notable difference between Melbourne’s coliseum and the NFL venues, which have rectangular fields and stands that are closer to the field.
“I think that’s something that people are a bit surprised by, from a fan experience standpoint and from a football standpoint,” said Rogers, who said the experience of the “famous MCG” was exciting to the 49ers. “NFL stadiums and especially collegiate stadiums, they’re right on top of the sideline, right? And that’s part of that noise that carries through and makes that energy and that environment.
“It’ll be really fun though.”
For the Australians among the 90,000-plus at the MCG for the Rams and 49ers, the entertainment within the game – the images on the screen, the music, the cheerleaders from both teams – will be a contrast to how the more continuous AFL and staid cricket are presented (although footy fans often complain about the Americanisation of venues like the MCG and Marvel Stadium).
As Rogers said, in American sport, game noise is loud, “the video boards have a lot going on, there’s music, in between the playing moments.” It won’t be a quiet September morning.
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.
