A prominent American media figure has given Australia a glowing endorsement and made a bold declaration after Friday's NFL success.
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosted the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, with the teams opening their 2026 seasons in front of 100,021 fans at the home of footy.
This was the first NFL regular-season game ever played in Australia. By lunchtime it had become the league's seventh most attended regular-season game in history.
Australian fans of the sport, along with a handful of travelling Americans, packed into Melbourne's sporting colosseum before 10am AEST on a Friday.
The game itself was not close, with the 49ers shocking the Super Bowl favourite Rams 27-7. But the event was a spectacle, featuring in-game fan engagement, the Jonas Brothers performing at half-time, and a dramatic pre-game flyover.
Famous ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith could not hide his admiration for the event, even if his praise of people Down Under was slightly misdirected.
“Let’s give props to the NFL once again,” Smith began on ESPN’s flagship show ‘First Take’ on Saturday AEST.
“The NFL is showing that it is rapidly becoming the number one sport in the world.
“I know in America that’s a given, but … when a hundred thousand people show up at a cricket arena to watch an NFL game at 10:30 in the morning, local time, what do you say to that?
“A hundred thousand people, on a weekday showing up at a place where they’re usually watching cricket, and instead they’re watching an NFL game.
“I mean, damn, I’ve got to
Source: www.foxsports.com.au — Read the original article
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