The NFL will stage a regular season game in Australia for the first time in 2026 as part of the league’s international expansion.

In a new multi-year deal announced in Super Bowl week, the NFL said the match will be played at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which has a capacity of around 100,000, with the Los Angeles Rams to be the designated home team.

The match will be likely played in Week One of the regular season to allow the two teams time to acclimatise to the time zone and engage in event promotion.

The NFL’s inaugural match in Brazil, which featured the Philadelphia Eagles against the Green Bay Packers, was also staged in the first week of the last regular season.

“This is a big statement,” said NFL chief executive Peter O’Reilly.

“Probably a few years ago, you may not have thought this was a reality.

“I’d say the commissioner, the 32 owners, there’s a commitment to become a true global sport property. That means expanding our footprint, that means going to different parts of the world and exposing more fans around the world, in this case fans in Australia and Melbourne, to our great sport.”

Rams president Kevin Demoff said: “We could not be more excited.

“As soon as this opportunity came about, we were the first to raise our hands and say we want to play in that first game in Australia.”

Australia will become the seventh country outside the USA to host an NFL game, with the league now allowing up to eight international matches to take place per season.

Next season the NFL will play three games in London – two at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley – one at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium and another in Madrid at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium for the first time

The Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday February 9, live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm ahead of kick-off at 11.30pm; 17-time Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar headlines the half-time show. Stream with NOW.