'Not a one and done': Goodell confirms the NFL will be back in Australia

[p]A sellout crowd of 100,000 is expected to pack the cavernous four-tier seating bowl of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia for the season opener between the west coast rivals.[/p][p]The match will almost certainly set a top-ten all-time record for a regular season NFL attendance, with only six matches - three at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the late 1950s - breaking through for a six-figure crowd. [/p][p]Melbourne's NFL debut is set to kick off a nine-game International Series that heads to Rio De Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich and finally Mexico City in the second half of November. [/p][p]The two franchises have taken vastly different logistical approaches to their preparation for this game, with the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-francisco-49ers/jBnfYoFr/"]San Francisco 49ers[/a] spending an entire week in Melbourne to acclimatise to conditions, whilst the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-rams/z7hZioyR/"]Rams[/a] landed in Melbourne little more than 24 hours before kick-off, maintaining a Pacific Time body clock and preparing for what is a Thursday night match back in the States. [/p][embed guid="9b45a361-d1c2-40b2-bb06-e1810f92eee1" url="https://x.com/morganoreillys/status/2098199868443447798" social-type="twitter" /][p]With the game already declared an immense success prior to kick-off, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had no hesitation to declare that the league would be back in Australia next year. [/p][p]"[b]We're going to be back here. It's not a one and done for us,[/b]" Goodell told the ESPN pre-game broadcast.[/p][p]"We're investing in this community, whether it's through bringing flag football to every school in Australia that wants to play it.  [/p][p]"[b]One of the remarkable things about this game, and I know our fans in the States don't understand this, is that we're here on a Friday morning at 10:30am and 100,000 people are going to be in this stadium watching.[/b] [/p][p]"That's remarkable and it shows you how passionate they (Australians) are."[/p][embed guid="bf469bdb-fa50-4d8c-b6a7-721be03a672f" url="https://x.com/MCG/status/2098147512200917203" social-type="twitter" /][p]Goodell praised both franchises for buying into the historic game, assuring that the Rams' late arrival in Melbourne was by no means a statement of disrespect or disinterest. [/p][p]"[b]It was in part their initiative[/b]," Goodell said of the Rams and the 49ers.[/p][p]"Their intent was to market here. We have a global markets program and the Rams were one of the first to put their flag down here.[/p][p]"[b]These two teams are popular here, and I think the location helps too, having two west coast teams. And these are two great franchises with a rivalry that certainly doesn't hurt.[/b]"[/p][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]