The Los Angeles Rams will play the San Francisco 49ers in Australia on Thursday. The two NFL organizations took two very different approaches to travel to the other side of the world.
It could go either way.
This is the first NFL game to be played in Australia. One team arrived more than a week before the game. The other will arrive on the night before the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:35 AM on Friday, September 11, 2026 in Australia—which is Thursday night in the United States.
The San Francisco 49ers traveled to Australia last week.
There is a lot that goes into an international trip of this magnitude. Even beyond the initial passport and visa acquisition process, teams must ship all of their gear to the other side of the planet. They must also ship their players. Coaches and general managers must decide on how to acclimate to a completely opposite time zone and how to go about practice, warmups, and game day.
The San Francisco 49ers decided to dedicate a full week to the trip. They arrived to Melbourne on Thursday, Sept. 3.
It was business as usual during the week— which left head coach Kyle Shanahan completely baffled by what day it actually is. The 49ers practiced around 1:00 p.m. every day this week. They’ll run their walkthrough on Thursday and get to bed early. They’ll get up early on Friday to play before noon.
That could be a problem for two reasons:
- The players will be adjusted to Australia time. A 10:30 a.m. kickoff is not normal for their game day routine of however many years.
- The players must then readjust to United States time upon return. That could throw them off in future weeks.
It is an 18-week season. San Francisco is putting a huge emphasis on the first game.
The Los Angeles Rams did not disrupt their sleep on game day.
With the 49ers already in Australia, the Los Angeles Rams are currently en route. They took off from the United States on late Tuesday.
They will arrive to Australia on Thursday before the game on Friday. Here is a look at their accommodations:
Rams are headed to Australia 🇦🇺 in style! pic.twitter.com/bFICWZ3yWN
— Poko (@Iampoko_t) September 9, 2026
The Rams chartered an Airbus A380, which allows them to lie flat in beds and sleep. It also maintains a lower cabin altitude, around 5,000-6,000 feet under typical conditions. That is significant because a lower cabin altitude creates a higher oxygen availability and less reduction in blood oxygen flow. The same thing can be said for slightly increased humidity in the cabin, compared to the notoriously dry air of a regular plane.
Most importantly is the timing. Many sleep science experts encourage this kind of approach to travel. The players’ body clocks will not change. The Rams can go to bed early on Thursday night and get a normal biological body clock for a 10:30 a.m. game while the 49ers are thrown off by the abnormal morning kickoff. Their bodies don’t need to know they are in Australia.
That is the biggest thing. Los Angeles will treat the Friday morning kickoff in Australia as a Thursday night kickoff in the U.S.
This should provide a physiological advantage for the Rams, who used four players as guinea pigs for the travel plan. And then they will fly right home and get right back to work without an additional adjustment period.
We’ll see what happens later this week. We should also monitor this storyline for the 49ers throughout the rest of the season.