This coming season will feature a variety of games on the NFL schedule occurring in international locations, including Germany, France, and England.
As a result, the NFC’s San Francisco 49ers will set a new league record for total miles traveled during the season, with 38,000 miles. In addition, they’ll experience some wild travel comparable to time-traveling due to where and when they’re flying.
It kicks off in Week 1 of their season, when they’ll play their division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. The current schedule lists that Melbourne game on Sept. 11, for Australia, but that’s Sept. 10 in the United States.
“They will actually fly far enough to enter a time machine: On the way to Australia, an entire day will vanish and on the way back, they’ll land about 4 hours before they took off,” The San Francisco Standard’s David Lombardi wrote on X.
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Most searches show that Santa Clara to Melbourne is at least a 15-hour flight, covering over 7,865 miles, and while it can build up frequent flyer miles, it also comes with the possibility of serious jet lag.
In addition to that game, they’ll also play in Mexico City, Mexico, against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 22, which is about a 1,850-mile flight or more from Santa Clara, California, home of the 49ers.
Those are the only games on the team’s schedule that involve going outside the United States. However, the West Coast 49ers also travel to various AFC and NFC venues for their away games during the 17-game season, and then back home, racking up those 38,000 travel miles.
The full NFL schedule arrives on Thursday evening, which should paint more of the picture for the San Francisco 49ers and their fans, but all that travel can certainly take a toll on players and teams as they attempt to contend.
“Strength of schedule doesn’t mean much in the NFL given parity/annual change,” Lombardi told a fan who suggested the Rams always get “shafted” by their schedule. “And West Coast teams are always going to travel more than average. It’s the Australia trip that made it super lopsided for the Rams and 49ers this year.”
The only other team with two games outside the United States will be the Jacksonville Jaguars, who play the Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 11 and then the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 18.
Basically, Trevor Lawrence, Travis Hunter, and the Jags can stay in London for a week to practice and immerse themselves in the sights and culture.
Last season, the 49ers finished the NFC West with a record of 12-5, tied with the Rams. Both teams were behind the division-leading Seattle Seahawks, who went 14-3 and won the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots.
In the upcoming season, the 49ers sit at 10th overall for DraftKings Sportsbook odds to win the Super Bowl. They’re also considered slight 2.5-point underdogs in their Australia matchup against the Rams.
The best news is that if this San Francisco team can go on a postseason run and reach that championship game, they only have to travel five hours up the road to Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium, site of the 2027 Super Bowl.
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