PHOENIX — The 2026 NFL season is months away, but the bad blood in the NFC West is already boiling. San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan fired a direct shot at the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday, claiming his divisional rivals lobbied the league to move their Week 1 opener to Melbourne, Australia, specifically to avoid a 49ers fan takeover at SoFi Stadium. Shanahan, clearly frustrated by a record-breaking 38,100-mile travel schedule, is now demanding the NFL “do right” by scheduling the return game in Mexico City.
The Great Escape to Melbourne
The NFL confirmed last week that the 49ers and Rams will kick off their 2026 campaigns at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on September 10. While the league views the historic trip as a global milestone, Shanahan sees it as a strategic retreat by Sean McVay’s squad. For years, 49ers fans have famously turned SoFi Stadium into “Levi’s South,” forcing the Rams into silent counts on their own turf. By moving the game 8,000 miles away, the Rams effectively neutralized that home-field disadvantage.
Shanahan didn’t hold back during his session at the NFL Annual League Meetings. He noted that the travel burden falls heavily on his players, who must endure a 19-hour flight to face a team that requested the matchup. “I know for a fact they lobbied for it,” Shanahan said. He argued that if the 49ers have to leave the country twice—with a Week 11 home game already scheduled for Mexico City—the Rams should be forced to do the same.
“I get that it would suck to have to do silent cadence and to have our home game at their stadium. So I get their ambitions. But hopefully, the league will do right and let us play the Rams in Mexico. They requested us, so I’m requesting them. It’s just fair to make them go out of the country twice, too.”
— Kyle Shanahan, 49ers Head Coach
The Logistics Nightmare: 38,000 Miles and Counting
The 49ers are set to become the first team in NFL history to play multiple international games in non-consecutive weeks during a single season. The 2026 itinerary is grueling:
- Week 1: A 15,000-mile round trip to Melbourne, Australia, to face the Rams.
- Week 11: A trek to Mexico City’s Estadio Banorte to serve as the “home” team.
- Season Total: Over 38,000 miles, surpassing the previous league record held by the 2025 Chargers.
General Manager John Lynch echoed Shanahan’s concerns, noting that while being a high-profile team brings prime-time opportunities, it shouldn’t come at the cost of player recovery. The team plans to head to Australia early to acclimitize to the 17-hour time difference, a move Shanahan described with his signature dry wit as “taking a 19-hour nap and waking up two days older.”
What’s Next for the Schedule
The NFL traditionally releases the full regular-season schedule in May. While the league rarely grants specific “tit-for-tat” scheduling requests, the pressure is on Executive Vice President Hans Schroeder to address the competitive balance. If the NFL denies Shanahan’s request and places a different opponent in the Mexico City slot, the 49ers will have played two “away” games against the Rams in 2026—one in Melbourne and one in Inglewood.
For now, the 49ers are bracing for a season of jet lag. The rivalry has moved from the sidelines to the front office, and the Week 1 clash in Australia just became the most anticipated season opener in years. Expect the MCG to be louder than the Rams anticipated—49ers fans are already booking their flights Down Under.
