MELBOURNE, Australia – It took a few days but the NFL finally and fully arrived here. Not only did the reluctant Rams finally land Down Under early Thursday morning, but it seems that in the past 24 hours, thousands of NFL fans have arrived as well. On a walk across town, San Francisco 49ers fans still seemed to be in the majority but there were plenty of Rams fans, and a smattering of devotees of other teams.
I talked to a father and son, originally from Baltimore but living in Perth and Brisbane, respectively, for the past quarter-century, who were decked out in Ravens gear and heading to Federation Square for a watch party for the Seahawks-Patriots opener.
“They told us all to come and represent our teams,” the father said.
Former Chronicle reporter Vic Tafur and I also went in search of the Seahawks game on Thursday morning. We found it. We just couldn’t really see it. Well, Vic could because he’s 6-foot-6 and can see over people. But the “Seahawks bar” – also known as the Imperial Pub – was so packed there was no chance that I, clocking in at 4–11½, would be able to see much.
The Seahawks share the Australia market with the Rams (along with the Raiders and Eagles) and have cultivated it well. The Imperial Pub was completely packed with Seahawks fans and – even though the game started poorly for them, with Sam Darnold going down – you could hear the cheers emanating from the pub a block away. Even the rooftop bar (reached by climbing stairs with the treads reading “12s everywhere”) was completely packed.
So we wandered down the street to a nearby pub, which didn’t open until noon (OK, so they don’t fully understand the importance of NFL opening day here). We finally found a gaming lounge called Welcome Stranger with a few seats left out on the smoking porch.
One Australian Seahawks fan, wearing a Darnold jersey, was also shut out of the Seahawks pub and was wandering down the street. Another Aussie shouted over to him “Glad I didn’t start you in my fantasy league, mate.”
Yep. The NFL has definitely arrived.
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This article originally published at Postcards from Down Under: How you know the NFL has truly arrived in Australia.
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