San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams open season in Melbourne
Yahoo Sports • 1 min read • Latest: Sep 11, 2026, 2:51 AM
Last updated Sep 11, 2026
The NFL held its first game in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday night as the San Francisco 49ers faced the Los Angeles Rams at the MCG. The event, which was broadcast on the streamer Netflix, began with a land acknowledgement delivered by Joy Murphy Wandin. During the pre-game ceremony, Wandin offered a traditional welcome to the Kulin Nation and honored 60,000 years of local culture. The inclusion of the ceremony prompted public criticism from sports pundit Clay Travis on social media. Travis characterized the inclusion of the land acknowledgement as unnecessary and cited his disapproval of similar cultural practices within Australia. The game represents the first time the league has conducted a regular-season contest in the country.
- •The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams played in Melbourne on Thursday night.
- •Joy Murphy Wandin performed a land acknowledgement before the game started.
- •The event was the first NFL game held in Australia.
- •Netflix provided the broadcast for the matchup.
- •Clay Travis publicly criticized the pre-game cultural acknowledgement.
- 2:51 AMYahoo Sports — ‘This is insane’: Analyst outraged after NFL game starts with a ‘land acknowledgement’
"The NFL held its first-ever game in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday night, when the San Francisco 49ers faced the Los Angeles Rams. If playing in Australia weren’t crazy enough, the game was also broadcast on teh streamer Netflix. However, both of those things paled in comparison to the land acknowledgment made before the game by…
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