NFL's 2026 season travel hits record with Australia game

The 2026 NFL season will open with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams traveling to Melbourne, Australia, for a game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a roundtrip journey of approximately 15,742 miles. That single trip is longer than the entire season travel for 10 other NFL teams, according to league data, and contributes to a record of 38,105 miles traveled by the 49ers and 34,847 by the Rams. Across all 32 teams, the league’s total travel for the season will exceed 628,000 miles, the equivalent of more than 25 trips around the Earth.

The international travel is part of a broader expansion that gained new momentum when NFL owners voted on May 19, 2026, to increase the maximum number of league-run international games from eight to ten per season, beginning in 2027. That figure does not include the Jacksonville Jaguars’ annual game in London. Owners also eliminated a rule that allowed teams to protect two home games from being moved abroad, giving the league authority to relocate any regular season game to an international venue.

The 49ers face a particularly demanding schedule. In addition to the Australia trip, they will travel to Mexico City to face the Minnesota...