The NFL isn’t going to stop playing international games. Expanding globally is a core part of the league’s strategy, and teams are fully on board. But that doesn’t mean the current approach is the right one.
The league has announced that the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams will open the season in Melbourne, Australia. That’s a flight of nearly 20 hours from the West Coast, for a rivalry between two teams in the same state. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan has already voiced concerns, noting the game comes in Week 1, meaning no bye week to help either team reset.
That alone is problematic, but it’s only part of the issue. Here’s why this approach needs to change.
Divisions Can’t Matter Only When It’s Convenient
The NFL has long resisted reseeding the playoffs, arguing that division titles should carry weight. That logic is why teams with better records have still been forced to play on the road in the postseason.
If that’s the stance, it has to apply across the board, including the regular season.
By moving a divisional matchup overseas, the league is creating an imbalance within the NFC West. The 49ers no longer have to make a true road trip to face the Rams, while their division rivals still play full divisional road schedules.
It also takes something away from fans. Rivalries are built on familiarity and access. The Rams and 49ers have been playing each other since the 1950s, and now one side of that fan base loses the chance to see that matchup in person for an entire season.
The league can’t emphasize the importance of divisions while simultaneously altering how those games are played.
An Uneven Burden Within the NFC West
This isn’t the only overseas game on San Francisco’s schedule. The 49ers are also giving up a home game to play in Mexico City. While that trip is far more manageable, it still means they’ll become the first team to play international games in consecutive weeks.
And again, it carries real implications within the NFC West.
Seattle retains a full slate of nine home games, and its only potential international appearance would come against Dallas in Brazil. The Rams lose their ninth home game but avoid a second overseas trip. Arizona could still be selected for an international game, but after a 3-14 season, the Cardinals have more immediate concerns.
That leaves San Francisco in a uniquely difficult position.
The 49ers had already agreed to give up a home game for Mexico City. If the league was going to schedule a game in Australia, a more balanced approach would have been to send Arizona to Melbourne alongside the Rams, while assigning Seattle to the Brazil matchup. That would give each NFC West team one international appearance and a consistent 16-game domestic slate.
Instead, the 49ers absorb more disruption than anyone else in the division.
And in a league where margins are thin, that matters. San Francisco enters the season with a built-in disadvantage, one its rivals, including the defending Super Bowl champions, won’t face.
The Schedule Doesn’t Account for the Human Element
The NFL is forcing this Melbourne game into Week 1, which raises an obvious question: why not adjust the schedule to account for what it does to players’ bodies?
When Major League Baseball opens the season in Japan, it builds in time to manage the travel. Teams leave spring training early, adjust to the time zone, and play a couple of games before Opening Day officially begins. By the time the rest of the league starts, those teams have reset their body clocks.
The NFL isn’t doing that.
Instead, the Rams and 49ers will have just nine days between playing in Melbourne and their next game. That’s a massive travel burden with minimal recovery time, and it’s a difficult setup for both teams.
There was a more practical way to handle this.
The league could have placed one team in the Hall of Fame Game and given the other an early preseason slot, even if that meant a one-off setup at a neutral or college venue for promotional purposes. Then, when the rest of the league was playing its final preseason games, those four teams could have met in Melbourne for a pair of international matchups.
From there, they would have had a full week off, plus all of Week 1, before returning to action. That creates a 15 to 16 day recovery window before Week 2, which is far more reasonable given the travel involved.
It also would have made the event bigger, not smaller.
Instead, the current setup puts both teams at a competitive disadvantage from the start. In a league where preparation and recovery matter as much as talent, the Rams and 49ers could realistically enter Week 2 as fade candidates.
The Answer is Simple
This is a fixable problem, and the solution is straightforward.
The NFL should eliminate the ninth home game and move to a clean structure: eight home games, eight road games, and one neutral-site game for every team. That opens the door to new matchups, fresh environments, and more flexibility in scheduling global contests.
It would also create compelling one-off rivalries.
The Eagles and Steelers, for example, currently meet just once every four years. A neutral-site model could turn that into an annual game at Penn State, creating a unique atmosphere. The Cowboys and Texans in Austin would carry a similar appeal, while the Jets and Giants could meet in New York City for the first time since 1970 and only their second clash ever.
Teams without a natural interconference rival would slot cleanly into international games. That allows the NFL to expand globally without placing an uneven burden on specific teams.
There’s one more adjustment that would make this work even better: a second bye week.
Expanding to a 19-week schedule would give the league the flexibility to assign a bye after every international trip, while still preserving another break later in the season for recovery. It’s a simple way to address travel demands, reduce wear and tear, and improve the overall quality of play.
If the NFL is serious about growing the game globally, it has to be just as serious about maintaining competitive balance and player health. This structure accomplishes both.
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