MELBOURNE, Australia — Brock Purdy did not need a long explanation after the San Francisco 49ers opened their season in front of 100,021 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
He just said what the setting made hard to miss.
“We definitely felt the love from all the Australians pulling for us,” Purdy said after throwing three touchdown passes in the 49ers’ 27-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams. He also called the crowd energy “awesome” and said Australians were passionate about sports.
In a game billed as the NFL’s first in Melbourne, the atmosphere was not just background noise. It was part of the story from the start, with the 49ers and Rams drawing the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in NFL history and the local reception leaning San Francisco’s way.
That edge did not appear by accident. The 49ers arrived a week before the Rams and spent time in the community, helping win over neutral fans who had not yet picked a side. By kickoff, the crowd at the MCG had the feel of a San Francisco-friendly environment even though the game was technically neutral.
Purdy said the 49ers had a crowd advantage over the Rams. The result made that easy to understand.
San Francisco scored the final 24 points of the game, turning a 7-3 start into a comfortable finish. Purdy kept the offense moving, and the 49ers’ defense shut down Matthew Stafford and the Rams the rest of the way.
The scale of the event matched the setting. The NFL’s debut in Australia drew 100,021 fans, a figure that made it the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in league history. It also topped the previous high for a cricket match at the MCG, which drew 94,199 on Dec. 26, 2025.
Even the local start time did not dull the scene. One account of the game noted that the kickoff “didn’t quiet the crowd at Melbourne Cricket Ground, even if the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers offenses got off to a sleepy start.”
The 49ers did have to manage the trip itself. Kyle Shanahan’s team acknowledged it took some time to adjust to the 17-hour time difference, a reminder that an overseas opener brings its own complications even before the first snap.
The Rams had their own adjustment problems. They arrived in Melbourne just 28 hours before kickoff, then fell behind after briefly leading 7-3. Their offense never found a rhythm, and the game slipped away as San Francisco took control.
Purdy’s three touchdown passes were the clearest on-field answer to the setting. The crowd may not have decided the game by itself, but in Melbourne it was impossible to separate the noise from the way the night unfolded: a record crowd, a 49ers-friendly atmosphere, and a 27-7 result that made Purdy’s comment sound less like a joke than a simple read of the room.