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Most NFL teams can usually harness home-field advantage to gain an edge over visitors playing in hostile territory. However, the Rams have found themselves dealing with a home-field disadvantage when they host the 49ers at SoFi Stadium, and Kyle Shanahan doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the two teams will be playing each other in Australia this season.
In 1995, the Rams and the Raiders fled Los Angeles for St. Louis and Oakland, respectively, and the City of Angels went more than two decades without an NFL team before the former returned ahead of the 2016 campaign (a year before the Chargers relocated from San Diego).
The Rams have struggled to attract a diehard fanbase in L.A. despite making multiple trips to the Super Bowl over the past decade, including the one that ended with a win over the Bengals to cap off the 2021 season.
That issue has been repeatedly highlighted by the opposing fans who routinely managed to take over SoFi Stadium, which includes the members of the 49ers faithful who have routinely turned contests at the venue into de facto home games for the squad that hails from around 350 miles to the north.
This season, the Rams will be able to avoid that fairly embarrassing scene, as they’ll be trading SoFi for Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia for a showdown with San Francisco. Los Angeles will be serving as the “home” team, and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn’t think that’s a coincidence.
Kyle Shanahan claims the Rams asked the NFL to play the 49ers in Australia to avoid having SoFi Stadium invaded by opposing fans
The Rams relocated to SoFi Stadium prior to the start of the 2020 season, and it’s earned the nickname “Levi’s South” due to the influx of 49ers fans who have a reputation for turning the stands into a sea of red whenever San Francisco heads down to Los Angeles.
The 49ers have gone 5-2 in games against the Rams at that venue (although Los Angeles got a victory in the NFC Championship Game in 2022 after trying to block San Francisco supporters from buying tickets). However, they won’t have a chance to improve on that record in the regular season in 2026.
This year, the NFL will host nine international games in seven different countries, and the 49ers will be featured in two of them. San Francisco will face off against an as-of-yet unrevealed opponent at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in Week 11, and they’ll be heading down to Australia to play the Rams in Melbourne on September 11th.
Kyle Shanahan made it pretty clear he wasn’t thrilled about having to travel halfway across the globe for that second contest, and on Tuesday, he accused the Rams of engaging in some gamesmanship and trying to duck the scene they’ve been treated to when they play his team in L.A.
Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur say the Rams asked the NFL to send the 49ers to Australia with them.
LaFleur was “pretty sure,” Shanahan said, “I know for a fact they did,” adding he gets why they would, considering Niners fans’ annual takeover of SoFi Stadium.… pic.twitter.com/coJjKu2QnY— KNBR (@KNBR) March 31, 2026
During a conversation with Mike Florio and Chris Simms, Shanahan said “I know for a fact” the Rams lobbied the NFL to play the 49ers in the Land Down Under. Simms posited it was connected to the fan invasions at SoFi, and the skipper endorsed that theory, saying:
“I get that. That would suck, to have to do silent cadence and have our home game at their stadium.
I get their ambitions, but they were rewarded that, so I’m just hoping we can get our request too. I’d love them to come to Mexico.”
We’ll have to wait and see if Shanahan gets his wish, but that seems like a fair tradeoff.