Rams just dropped a hint about their secret Australian travel plan and it wildly differs from 49ers' plan

The Rams and 49ers will make NFL history in Week 1, but their preparation for the long trip to Melbourne could not be more different Jul 31, 2026 at 11:50 am ET • 6 min read For the first time in NFL history, there's going to be a game in Australia. That kicks off Week 1 with the Los Angeles Rams facing the San Francisco 49ers. One reason it took so long for the NFL to put a game Down Under is the logistics of travel. For the first time, two NFL teams will cross the international dateline to play a regular-season game. The 49ers and Rams kick off at 10:35 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 in Australia, which will actually be an 8:35 p.m. ET kickoff on Thursday in the United States thanks to the 14-hour time difference between Melbourne and the Eastern Time Zone. The time change will be even worse for the 49ers and Rams because it will be a 17-hour difference from the Pacific Time Zone, where both teams are based. This could be a game where the team with the better travel plan could gain a small edge, which makes things interesting because the 49ers and Rams have two completely different philosophies for how they're going to handle the trip. Rams travel plans: Short and sweetYou could say the Rams revolutionized international travel for NFL teams last season when they decided to arrive in London just one day before their Week 7 game against the Jaguars. The game was played on Oct. 19, and the Rams landed in England that morning. It was an audacious travel plan that no team had ever attempted, and it paid off as the Rams beat Jacksonville, 35-7. "We were like SEAL Team 6," coach Sean McVay said of the team's trip to London. "We're in and out before you know what happened."The Rams have actually been pretty secretive about what their Australian travel itinerary is going to look like, but McVay did offer a small hint this week when he was asked if he had finalized the team's travel plans. "I have, but I'm going to keep that internally," McVay told the media. "Sorry to disappoint you." OK, so he offered absolutely nothing there, but he did eventually say that the Australian plan will be similar to the London plan. "It'll be a similar approach, and really the goal for us is to try to keep guys in as close to a rhythm and routine as possible," McVay said. "This is new to us, even going this far. I trust our group and most importantly, what's going to be best for our players. We always try to take that into consideration."If the Rams are going to show up the day before the game as they did in London, that would certainly be a bold plan, but it's not as crazy as it sounds. The flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne is almost 16 hours long and if the Rams want to show up the day before, that means they'd have to leave L.A. on Tuesday, Sept. 8. If they went that route, their flight would land in Melbourne on Thursday, Sept. 10 and then they'd be on the field about 24 hours later for their 10:35 a.m. kickoff on Friday against the 49ers. Of course, there's also a chance that flying in the day before the game might not work. One big difference between the games in London and Melbourne is that the London game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. local time, while the Melbourne game kicks off at 10:35 a.m. local time. In Australia, players will have to be up early on the day of the game, so it's certainly possible the Rams will leave L.A. on Monday (Sept. 7) for a Wednesday (Sept. 9) arrival in Melbourne. Either way, it's going to be a short trip for the Rams, and that's clearly what McVay wants. As he noted, the whole point of doing all this travel in such a short window is to keep his guys in "rhythm." Adjusting to the time change in Australia can be difficult, but if you're only there for 24 hours, then you never really have to adjust, which makes it much easier to re-adjust once you fly back home. As a matter of fact, surviving the flight might end up being one of the biggest challenges. Back in February, Matthew Stafford half-joking said he was worried about how his back would hold up on the long trip. "Seems like a long flight and I hope my back's not too sore afterwards," Stafford said. Whether it's one or two days, the Rams' trip will be short and sweet, but the 49ers will be taking a completely different approach. 49ers are taking an Australian vacationAlthough the Rams have been secretive about their travel plans, the 49ers have been an open book. Kyle Shanahan actually revealed exactly what his team is going to do shortly after the schedule came out in May. For the trip Down Under, the 49ers are scheduled to leave San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 2 with an expected arrival date of Sept. 4 in Melbourne. That's right, they're heading to Australia a full week before the game. The 49ers don't want to travel the week of the game because they don't think it will be enough time to acclimate to the 17-hour time difference, so they're leaving a full NINE days before kickoff."Usually when you travel with a [16]-hour flight, you don't want to get there the day before because you lose like a whole day there or two and you're just messed up," Shanahan said. If Shanahan and the 49ers are right, the Rams' plan to arrive in Melbourne just a day or two before the game could backfire on L.A."The people we've talked to, you don't feel normal until like the third or fourth day," Shanahan said. "So, we'd like to go out seven days early. But since it takes a day and a half to travel there, we're going to go nine. I think we leave on Wednesday and land on a Friday. And so, then we get there about seven days before our game."As you can see, these two teams couldn't disagree more on what the optimal travel plan should be for this game. Even though the 49ers will be Down Under for a week, that hasn't changed Shanahan's feelings about the trip. The 49ers coach made it clear that he isn't a big fan of playing in Australia. Shanahan already complained multiple times this offseason about the fact that his team has to play a game in Melbourne. That said, there is a chance Shanahan won't make the trip to Australia. The 49ers coach suffered several serious injuries in a car crash on July 14 and although the team is hoping that he'll be able to make the trip to Melbourne, it's not set in stone yet. "That's not what I've heard from the doctors," 49ers general manager John Lynch said of Shanahan possibly missing the game. "But just like we talked about with players, the timeline kind of takes care of itself. He's got to meet certain markers. But I think the expectation is that long before that he'll be better." Whether Shanahan is there or not, there are going to be a lot of eyes around the NFL watching the game. With the league set to play several more games in Australia, teams across the league will be curious about which travel plan works best. If the game ends up being a blowout, other franchises will likely look to emulate the travel plan of the winning team. This is one of two international games that the 49ers will play this season, along with a game in Mexico City, which will set them up to possibly break the NFL record for most miles traveled in a single season. The Rams will be traveling the second-most miles in 2026, so hopefully no one on either team has a fear of flying; otherwise, it could be a long season.