NFL commissioner promises future games in Melbourne following monster ticket sales

[p]Goodell was at ‌the MCG on Friday to promote the first regular-season NFL game in Australia and ‌said he had been impressed by the passion for sport he ‌had witnessed in the country.[/p][p]"[b]There's no question that we're going to be playing here ‌again,[/b]" he told reporters on the field at the iconic stadium.[/p][p]"Our ‌view is that we're coming here for the long term. We don't come as a one-offs. This isn't a circus.[/p][p]"[b]This is something that's an investment in this, in ‌this market and we believe that, this is long ⁠term and will be great for ‌the NFL long term.[/b]"[/p][p]Pressed as to whether that might mean a return as ​early as 2027, Goodell replied, "[b]It might[/b]".[/p][p]Sales of tickets for the 100,000-seater stadium have been so strong that Goodell said they could have ​sold out the September 11 game in the pre-sale had the NFL not wanted to ensure U.S.-based fans would have a chance to get ⁠hold of some.[/p][p]He was ​less certain whether it might be possible to challenge the record attendance for an NFL regular-season game -- the 105,121 that turned up to see [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dallas-cowboys/S8sFw8iL/"]Dallas[/a] play the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-york-giants/lIrBvlxF/"]New York Giants[/a] at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington in 2009.[/p][embed guid="d80a9548-ab6a-4cf2-b77a-92fefec75a2d" url="https://x.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/2042471724118151447" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]We're ‌going to have to talk and see how many more seats we can get in there,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]So I think the record is slightly over 100 ... but it's going to be darn close and maybe we can get there.[/b]"[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-francisco-49ers/jBnfYoFr/"]San Francisco[/a] coach Kyle Shanahan last month made it clear that he was less than thrilled that the 49ers will open the 2026 season with a trip Down Under, saying he did not see much benefit to it for his team.[/p][p]Goodell said that was a fully understandable take ‌from a team coach looking to make the best possible start to ​the new season.[/p][p]"[b]Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach, ‌but also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]We're going to make it a great experience for the team ... (but) they got to make sure that they're able to continue the competitiveness because this game ⁠is real, this counts and ⁠they'll go on a week ‌two as soon as they leave here.[/b]"[/p]