Updated September 10, 2026 — 6:55pm,first published September 10, 2026 — 8:10amThe Los Angeles Rams imposed a strict 8pm curfew to prepare players for Friday’s historic clash in Melbourne against the San Francisco 49ers, part of a global expansion mission that has helped push the collective value of the NFL’s 32 teams beyond $400 billion.The Rams, the second-most valuable team in the NFL at $US14.5 billion ($20 billion), according to CNBC analysis published this week, touched down only the day before Friday’s sold-out match at the MCG.Rams quarterback Matt Stafford.AP Photo/Asanka Brendon RatnayakeThe Qantas A380 that carried them was laden with high-protein snacks to fuel the players. Rams president Kevin Demoff said they were taking no chances with their preparation. “Our goal is to have them in bed by 8pm,” Demoff said at the Rams activation outside Crown on Thursday. “Then if they wind up waking up naturally at 3am or 4am, that’s their normal rhythm to get ready. They’ll leave for the stadium at 6:30 am or 7am, so that’s about right.”He said it would be a strict bedtime for the Rams players.“We’re going to have a curfew,” he said. “Let’s hope they abide by it. But there’s no trouble to get into here, is there?”The 49ers, valued at $US11.7 billion ($16.2 billion), have been in Melbourne for almost a week, charming fans before the NFL’s first regular season game in Australia.The Rams have a light run at Marvel Stadium on Thursday. Getty ImagesHundreds of people queued outside an NFL pop-up shop in the CBD on Thursday, with the league and the teams cashing in from added merchandise sales.The Victorian government paid an estimated $10 million to $15 million for the game, and up to $45 million for three games – the contract is for two games with the option for a third across four years.The government and Visit Victoria have refused to disclose what the games cost.Melbourne is one of seven international cities hosting nine NFL matches this season.Fans queue for merchandise at the NFL shop in the CBD. Eddie JimThe Rams’ fly-in, fly out mission, led by coach Sean McVay and star quarterback Matthew Stafford, began in earnest on Thursday when they had their only training session before Friday’s 10.35am kick-off. They hope their body clocks remain in their home Pacific time zone (17 hours behind Melbourne), having successfully adopted this model when travelling to London last year.NFL great Jerry Rice, the three-time 49ers Super Bowl champion, said he hoped the Rams would be “completely exhausted”.Rice said international matches had been a huge driver of commercial value for the NFL. CNBC put the combined value of the 32 franchises at $US320 billion ($443 billion), boosted by the sale of the Seattle Seahawks this year for a record $US9.6 billion.“It’s just going to get bigger, to be honest with you. And you know, you look at all the guaranteed contracts now, the money that these players are making,” Rice said at a promotional event for Dan Murphy’s.“So many of these players, they might have been third-string players. Now they’re making the big bucks, and I think that’s because the game is growing and, you know, it’s going international.”The chartered plane that carried the Rams had to carry so much food on the nearly 15-hour trip that the caterers had to store snacks such as beef jerky and meat-and-cheese packs in the overhead bins on the flight.The Qantas flight that hosted the LA Rams was packed full of American snacks.The plane was stocked with high-protein foods – such as double-thick cheeseburgers – and snacks including Jiffy peanut butter (an American favourite), sausage and cheese packs, beef jerky and Lay’s potato chips, baked not fried.Evan Kassel, Qantas manager of charter planning and delivery, said: “We’ve been working really closely with their operations team, making sure our lighting schedules, our sleep schedules, the meal service are all within [the requirements of] what they’re looking for.“Probably the biggest piece which has taken a lot of time is ... the nutrition.”So for the NFL players, it’s “high protein on each plate”, he said, noting that the players get a business class service throughout the aircraft.One of the onboard burgers which was part of the menu for the Rams on the way to Australia.“We’re trying to ensure we have enough snacks as well that fit on board that they can eat through the entire journey.”Qantas had to “have snacks fit in the overhead lockers because we don’t even have the space in the galley”, said Kassel. “That is how full the aircraft is with food and drink.”The self-serve snacks Qantas provided on long-haul flights had an American makeover, with bottles of Gatorade, coconut water, Dr Pepper and bags of Doritos, with some of the arrayed food looking more like the stuff of an American convenience store. That is to say, tasty, and full of calories.Also seen in the pictures Qantas provided are custom-made LA Rams-branded Qantas pyjamas, sized extra large.Hot cheeseburgers and steak sandwiches were available during the whole flight, Kassel said.The LA Rams have touched down in Melbourne for Friday’s NFL clash at the MCG.NFLRams head coach McVay was convinced his team could thwart jet lag and optimise their game readiness by staying home longer on California time.The starkly differing ways in which the two sides made this epic 16,000-kilometre journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.Matt Golding “I’m sure it will be a good case study for anybody else in the future to sit there and overthink which one helped or not, but the real thing that’s going to [win] this game is who plays better football,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.“There are too many variables that go into this stuff with 53 guys on each team, with 3½ hours of football, for me to overthink or say anything that gives one team a big advantage over the other.”With Reuters, APRead more on the NFL Melbourne game:From our partners