Get ready for more NFL games in Australia.
That’s the implication of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s comments at the league meeting, where he said the Week 1 game in Melbourne was everything the league hoped it would be.
“We look at the Australia game as a tremendous success on really every level,” Goodell said.
Asked whether the ability to have two teams travel so far away for a game opens up the possibility of future games in Asia, Goodell indicated that teams can handle the travel. He also alluded to the fact that the 49ers, who arrived a week in advance to acclimate, blew out the Rams, who arrived only a day in advance.
“We learn something from every game and every event. It was a longer trip, of course. The teams took different approaches — I think we learned something from that, too,” Goodell said.
The official attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was 100,021 for a game that kicked off Friday morning locally so it could air on Thursday night in the United States.
“To get 100,000 people on a Friday morning at 10:30 is pretty remarkable,” Goodell said. “I think it shows the passion — I think in all of Australia, I’ve never seen a region or country that had more of a passion for sports, and I think that was demonstrated.”
Goodell has made clear that he wants to see more games played overseas, and there’s every reason to think that after a “tremendous success,” the league will be back Down Under.
