Netflix Is Taking the NFL to Australia and Football Will Never Be the Same

Remember when the biggest NFL news was just about what happens on Sunday? Yeah, that's over. Netflix is about to beam a Rams-49ers matchup straight from Melbourne, and it's the kind of move that tells you everything about where football is headed in 2026.

The Game That Changes Everything

Here's what's actually happening: the Los Angeles Rams will take on the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, September 10. Kickoff is 8:35 p.m. ET, which means it's Friday morning over in Australia. This isn't some preseason warmup either. This is a live, real-deal NFL game on the other side of the planet, and Netflix has the exclusive rights to broadcast it.

If you're in LA or San Francisco, you'll get an over-the-air TV option. Everyone else? You're getting a Netflix subscription or you're missing it. That's the new reality.

Netflix Is Building a Football Empire

This Australia game is just the opening salvo. According to multiple reports, Netflix also has rights to a game during Thanksgiving week. Then there are two Christmas Day games coming too. The Wall Street Journal reported back in March that Netflix was negotiating for exactly this kind of package: an international game, a Thanksgiving-week game, and those two Christmas games.

The streaming service is essentially carving out its own piece of the NFL calendar. No cable required. No traditional broadcast. Just Netflix and football fans willing to adapt.

What This Means for How We Watch

This is genuinely wild when you think about it. The NFL is going global in a way it hasn't before, and a streaming service is bankrolling it. September in Melbourne. Turkey day through your TV app. Christmas games on a completely different platform than what your parents watched.

For Seahawks fans, this is just the beginning of how scattered coverage is going to become. If you want to catch every game, you're going to need to know where each one is broadcasting. It's messy, but it's also the direction the entire industry is moving. Netflix isn't asking permission anymore. They're taking a seat at the table and reshaping how America watches football.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.