Inside the Rams’ Unique Plan to Make a 15,000-Mile Trip to Australia Feel As Normal As Possible

The Rams were practicing in 100-degree training camp heat when senior director of equipment Brendan Burger checked the way-too-early forecast for his team’s upcoming trip Down Under. The temperature was expected to be in the 50s and 60s, just over three weeks before kickoff.

The stark difference offered a glimpse into the logistical challenge of traveling 15,000-plus air miles to play a football game.

As part of its ever-growing International Series, the NFL announced during Super Bowl week this past February its first regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia. The matchup—which kicks off at 8:35 p.m. ET Thursday night and 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday—will mark the start of the league’s record nine-game international slate in 2026, and feature an in-division NFC West bout between the Rams and 49ers.

The two teams were given exactly 218 days to prepare for it.

For Burger, that meant figuring out a plan to move roughly 25,000 pounds of equipment and supplies—oh, and an entire football operation—halfway around the world.

The Rams are bringing the house to Australia

Rams helmet — The Rams are bringing roughly 25,000 pounds of equipment to Melbourne. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“You plan to bring the house,” Burger said in the lead-up to their Week 1 contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “You’re bringing everything. From the usual backup stuff we bring—helmets, pads, cleats—to different level spikes, to different types of jackets and cold-weather gear. We bring everything we have.”

While nonstop flights from both Los Angeles and San Francisco across the Pacific Ocean to Melbourne take roughly 16 hours, the two teams are taking two vastly different approaches to the trip. The 49ers departed for Australia last Wednesday, Sept. 2, giving themselves more than a week to acclimate to the 14-hour time difference. The Rams, meanwhile, remain in Inglewood. They’ll arrive in Melbourne the day before the game and leave immediately afterward.

“We’re trying to keep things as normal for our players as we can,” said Burger, who has spent the past seven months ironing out the team’s in-and-out operation. “Trying to make it feel like a normal game week.”

There’s another layer to the Rams’ trip. Back in 2022, the NFL launched its Global Markets Program, awarding clubs with international marketing rights to certain countries around the world. L.A. was assigned Australia and in turn is the “home team” for its season opener against the 49ers. That means that while the team won’t be in the country for very long, the organization as a whole has a bit more responsibility on its plate.

“As the home team, it adds a lot to it from [our] standpoint of trying to post and get your brand out there in the market,” Burger explained. “Trying to push some more Rams stuff over that way. When you’re the road team, it’s a little easier. You’re not as focused on that aspect. You’re just going for more of a tactical, go win a ball game and get home. Where we’re kind of trying to spread some American football over there.”

Luckily, the Rams have plenty of experience with these globe-scaling escapades. They have played the fourth-most International Series games behind only the Jaguars, Dolphins and Vikings, and Burger was actually part of the NFL’s first overseas game. As an equipment assistant with Miami, he was tasked with getting the Dolphins ready to host the Giants from London’s Wembley Stadium in 2007. The matchup gave him quite the blueprint for how to attack these kinds of trips.

“I’ll never forget it,” he laughed, thinking back nearly two decades. “It rained. The field was a disaster. It’s something I’ll never forget. You want to make sure you have everything. Everything you can to get the advantage.”

Getting 25,000 pounds of freight through Australian customs is no easy task

Cleats. — Australia has very strict customs rules. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For the trip to Melbourne, specifically, Burger notes that the Rams are dealing with a city and climate that’s completely unknown to the NFL—hence the constant reminder of his trip across the pond in 2007. And while being prepared for a volatile field surface is top of mind, it’s actually getting the equipment through customs that’s the first hurdle.

Given their unique environment and agriculture, Australia has some of the strictest biosecurity rules in the world. According to their government website, “footwear, sporting and recreational equipment must be dry and clean [i.e., free from soil, seeds and grass]” upon arrival. For Burger and his staff, that means scraping out every single player’s cleats as they come off the grass fields in L.A. before packing them away ahead of takeoff.

“If it’s on [their] cleats or wedged into their travel bag or whatever, that’s one thing that they’re kind of sticklers on,” said Burger. “So we have to clean all of our cleats off after we pack them…

It’s going to be a little challenging. But we’ll get it done.”

And the cleats are only the beginning. The Rams have 90(!) trunks of equipment—each with a corresponding manifest detailing exactly what’s inside, the value of it and its country of origin—that must clear customs when they arrive on Wednesday.

“It’s a long process,” Burger said. “We were working on that during spring ball, like April and May, trying to get all of that filled out. We have 90 cases that we had to fill out quite a lengthy document on. And then when we arrive, myself and another member will go over to customs to get it cleared. … They might go through and pull, ‘Hey, what’s in case 17?’ and it’s got to match up to its manifest. And hopefully, you don’t run into any issues there.”

“It’s always an adventure,” he continued. “And you kind of cross your fingers and hope it goes smoothly. But they already told us they will be checking [the cleats]. They wanted to know where [they] were going to be located on our manifest because they were going to flag those items ahead of time.”

Why the Rams’ game-day essentials have been in Australia for months

Rams sideline. — The Rams shipped several of their game-day drinks and supplments to Australia months ago. | Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Another wrinkle to these Australian customs rules is the food and drink that you can (and can’t) bring into the country.

“Certain food, plant material and animal products from overseas could introduce serious pests and diseases into Australia,” they write on their website. “Devastating our valuable agriculture and tourism industries, unique environment and our way of life.”

As such, the majority of the Rams’ essentials have been in Melbourne for months. Since the company they use stateside is not licensed as a food distributor—they do rock concerts and production—they had to send a slow-boat shipping container with all of their game-day drinks, products and supplements.

“We’ve had a couple trips over already. We have a storage unit over there that’s holding certain items … between our stuff and then stuff they’re going to give out to fans and for some of the fanfare they’re going to do over there. And then those items have to get to our hotel for the chef and catering staff there. … So we shipped all of that in early and have all that stuff waiting for us because we can’t just bring it into the country.”

Murphy’s law is always lurking

Qantas airplane. — The Rams are flying Qantas for the first time. | Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong will,” and that’s the unfortunate reality that the Rams have to deal with—even after seven months of planning for this trip.

For starters, the team is using a different airline than it’s accustomed to, flying Qantas to Melbourne instead of Delta. It’s the first time Qantas is working with the league, and they’re getting adjusted to the process.

“It’s been an adventure with that as well,” said Burger. “Luckily, there’s really not a language barrier, so that’s helpful. But then at the same time, it’s, you know, ‘You guys want to do what?! How many meals are you trying to serve?!’ You know, those types of fun things that they don’t quite understand. They’re used to doing very full flights with passengers, not necessarily charter flights with football teams.”

Then there’s the roster.

NFL teams officially cut their teams down to 53 players last week, and with it came an abundance of follow-up waiver claims, signings and building a practice squad. On the surface, a mundane task.

However, when you have to travel out of the country in a matter of days, making sure any player you bring in—and plan to use in Week 1—has a passport is just another added piece to the logistical puzzle.

In the end, Burger understands that no amount of planning, preparation or advance trips will make the Rams’ trip to Australia perfect.

“It’s always different. … You have a plan, and then someone wants to bring somebody else, and that space you had allotted is gone,” he said as L.A. continues to jump through hoops leading into Thursday’s game.

“There’s always something, right?”

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