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Rams Coach Sean McVay Sees Late Travel to Australia for Season Opener as Best Course of Action
The 49ers are using the early arrival to adjust to jet lag and stage community events before the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia.
On Friday at 10:35 a.m. local time, the NFL makes its regular-season Australian debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where a capacity crowd of around 100,000 is expected.
The 49ers arrived in Melbourne last Friday to spend one week acclimating, shipping about 13 pallets of bottled water from Hawaii and 60,000 pounds of bulk equipment.
Departing Southern California on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Rams will arrive approximately 24 hours before kickoff, intending to disregard jet lag by maintaining Pacific time.
On Sunday, the 49ers promoted long snapper Jon Weeks to the 53-man roster, while defensive end Khalid Kareem joined after a nearly 23-hour journey spanning 10,000 miles.
In May, NFL owners approved plans to play up to 10 international games annually starting in 2027, with Commissioner Roger Goodell expressing interest in having every team play one international game each season.
The 49ers of San Francisco arrived in Australia, have largely overcome the impact of the long flight and are now preparing to open their season on Friday in Melbourne against the Rams of Los Angeles.