The growing popularity of American football in Australia will see the NFL play a regular-season game there for the first time when a sellout crowd packs into the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Los Angeles Rams are nominally the home team on Friday when they face the San Francisco 49ers.
Tickets were snapped up within minutes.
To cater for a prime-time audience in the United States, the game will kick off at 10.35 am in Australia, which is Thursday evening in the US.
This year the NFL will play in seven countries across four continents in an unprecedented global schedule.
Australia is seen as a significant overseas market for the NFL.
Since 2024 the Gold Coast has been home to an NFL academy with a growing number of Australians making their mark, led by the Philadelphia Eagles' Jordan Mailata, Michael Dickson (Seattle Seahawks) and Cameron Johnston (Pittsburgh Steelers).
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week's game was part of their long-term strategy for Australia, despite the logistical challenges and 17-hour time difference to the US West Coast. "Our view is that we're coming here for the long-term. We don't come as a one-off, this isn't a circus," he said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
