The NFL, the world’s richest sporting league, started up again today with a season-opening Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

Tomorrow, the NFL is playing its first in-season game in Melbourne at the MCG. Crazy, right?

In today’s 2-minute, I’ve done a deep dive into why the NFL is playing nine matches overseas this season.

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The age of Robin Raikkonen, the son of Finnish former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen. Robin has signed a deal with Red Bull to join the team’s driver development program next year. The same program fostered the talents of world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Kimi was the last driver to win a world title for Ferrari, in 2007, and retired in 2021.

“I love this game, but I have come to realise that there are things in my life that are far more important than footy right now, and they’re the things I will now prioritise.”
AFL player Elijah Hollands in a post on Instagram announcing he will no longer be pursuing a football career. Hollands was one of seven players delisted from Carlton’s roster this week after the club’s finals campaign finished on Friday with a loss to Geelong. The 24-year-old had not played since April, when he had a mental health episode during the club’s Round 6 match against Collingwood. Carlton was fined $75,000 by the league for its handling of the incident.

On this day in 1960, Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila won the Olympic men’s marathon in Rome. Bikila ran the entire race barefoot because the shoes he had bought before the event gave him blisters. He finished in a world record time of 2:15:16 and became the first black African to win an Olympic marathon.

🏀 The Opals have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball World Cup, defeating Italy 82-80 in a nail-biting finish. Australia held a 20-point lead heading into the final quarter, before Italy stormed back and missed an opportunity in the final second of the match to level the score. The Aussies will now face world No.6 Spain in the quarterfinals at 4:45am on Friday (AEST).

🚴 British cyclist Matthew Brennan won Stage 17 of the Vuelta a España, claiming his fifth stage victory of this year’s race. The 21-year-old sprint specialist is now the youngest rider to win five Grand Tour stages. Cycling’s ‘Grand Tours’ are the Vuelta, Tour de France, and Giro d’Italia. With four stages to go, Spain’s Enric Mas still holds the overall lead.

⚽ Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal, last season’s Champions League finalists, have both made winning starts to this year’s edition of the tournament. PSG beat Slovan Bratislava 6-1, with new signing Ferran Torres scoring three goals for the French club as they seek to win a third straight Champions League title. Meanwhile, Arsenal had a tight 1-0 win over Italian club Napoli with a goal from Norwegian captain Martin Ødegaard.

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The U.S. Open semi-finals are set, with both titles to be decided over the weekend. In the women’s draw, the tournament’s top four seeds remain as Aryna Sabalenka chases a third straight title, while the men’s draw will see a new champion crowned after defending champ Carlos Alcaraz was beaten yesterday.

Here’s what to know.

In the first semi-final, two-time reigning champion Sabalenka faces world No.3 Jessica Pegula in a rematch of their meeting at the same stage last year. The pair have played each other 13 times. Pegula has won just four of those matches, but will take confidence from the fact that she won the pair’s last meeting. To get here, Sabalenka beat Czech Linda Nosková in a third-set tiebreak, while Pegula defeated fellow American Emma Navarro in three sets.

In the second semi-final, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina plays American Coco Gauff. Rybakina and Gauff have played each other twice, with both players winning one match each. Rybakina’s win over Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals has elevated her to the world No.1 ranking for the first time. Meanwhile, Gauff beat Russia’s Mirra Andreeva and will have a strong home crowd behind her.

Both semi-finals are on Friday morning (AEST).

The first semi-final sees world No.2 Alexander Zverev against Karen Khachanov, who advanced to his third major semi-final when Alexander Blockx retired injured. Zverev defeated Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets and is the only man to reach all four major semi-finals this year.

The second semi-final will be an all-American showdown between eleventh seed Frances Tiafoe and eighth seed Ben Shelton. Tiafoe came back from two sets down to win his quarterfinal against Alex Michelsen while Shelton downed seven-time major winner Alcaraz in a fifth-set tiebreak.

Both are on Saturday morning (AEST).

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The NFL plays its first regular-season game in Australia tomorrow, with the Los Angeles Rams facing the San Francisco 49ers at the MCG in Melbourne.

So, why is a game of American football being played at one of Australia’s most iconic sporting grounds? Here’s what you need to know.

The NFL, the U.S.’ top professional American football league, has been holding regular season games overseas since 2005 in an effort to grow its audience outside the U.S.

Since that first international match in Mexico in 2005, a total of 62 have now been played abroad. This season, the league is staging nine overseas fixtures across four continents and seven countries. Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, and Paris are all host cities for the first time this year.

The NFL is not stopping there. Team owners voted in May to allow up to 10 international games a season from 2027, and clubs can no longer stop a home game from being sent overseas, according to ESPN.

Last month, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told German broadcaster RTL there will eventually be teams based outside the United States, saying “I have no doubt that this will happen one day.”

Each overseas game requires one club to give up a home fixture. In Melbourne, the Rams are the designated home team, despite the match being played more than 12,000km from Los Angeles.

The Rams also hold the marketing rights to Australia and New Zealand under the league’s Global Markets Program, which lets clubs build their brand in nominated countries outside the U.S. Three other teams hold Australian rights: the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Victoria has signed a multi-year deal to host games at the MCG, though only this season’s fixture is locked in. A 2027 return could be complicated by the AFL calendar, which has been pushed back by a week next year to make room for a cricket Test, meaning the MCG might be unavailable when the NFL season starts.

Almost half the crowd for Friday’s match is coming from interstate or overseas, according to the Victorian government, with ticketholders from more than 35 countries.

The Rams and the 49ers are NFC West rivals, meaning they are in the same division and meet twice a season. Both finished with win-loss records of 12-5 last season, in a division where three teams won at least 12 games. The Rams are favourites to win this match.

Matthew Stafford starts at quarterback for the Rams, who have added two-time defensive player of the year Myles Garrett. Brock Purdy is the 49ers quarterback, with star running back Christian McCaffrey alongside him.

Kickoff is 10:35am (AEST) on Friday 11 September. The game is streaming on Netflix, which requires a subscription.