PoliticsFederalThe AFR ViewThe AFR ViewIf the ubiquity of global sports encourages Australians youngsters to look overseas for professional sporting careers, the AFL and NRL may find themselves on the losing side of a global war for top sporting talent.About 100,000 spectators will pack the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday morning as the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams play the first-ever regular-season National Football League game for points in Australia.Sporting nativists might once have recoiled from the MCG’s hallowed turf hosting a foreign football code at the traditional home of Test cricket and Aussie rules. With tickets to the NFL selling out in under half an hour, Australia’s sporting insularity is clearly diminished.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Latest In FederalFetching latest articlesMost Viewed In Politics