America’s greatest sporting show is coming to Australia, with confirmation that the NFL will play its first regular-season game in Melbourne.

The NFL announced on Thursday (AEDT) that a historic deal had been signed to play a match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Even the AFL has backed the move despite it being likely to clash with the opening week of next year’s AFL finals series.

The Los Angeles Rams have been confirmed as the host team and their opposition will reportedly be the Philadelphia Eagles.

The NFL has played 55 regular-season games outside the US, with London, Madrid and Berlin also confirmed as venues this year.

The MCG game is the NFL’s first confirmed fixture for 2026 and would draw huge international attention to Melbourne.

It is the first major sporting event announcement for the Victorian government since the botched Commonwealth Games project.

Those Games, also to be held next year, will now be in Glasgow and have cost the state government $380 million in compensation.

NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said that the first regular-season game in the Asia-Pacific region would probably be in the code’s first week, which is early September.

“We won’t lock into any scheduling here, but the likely scenario would be a week-one game,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly and Victorian sports minister Steven Dimopolous said the AFL was a key player in the NFL game coming to Melbourne.

“The AFL have been fantastic in terms of these negotiations,” Dimopolous said.

It is a multiyear deal as the league continues its international expansion.

“Expanding to Melbourne, a beautiful city with a rich sports history, underlines our ambitions to become a global sport and accelerate international growth,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.

“Together with the Victorian state government … we look forward to making history in what is an important market for the NFL and a significant next step in expanding our international footprint.”

The announcement was made in New Orleans, where the Super Bowl will be played next Monday morning.

Offensive tackle Jordan Mailata will become the first Australian to play in a winning Super Bowl team if his Eagles beat the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Philadelphia narrowly lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago.

Mailata said he would hit up Goodell for tickets if the Eagles played at the MCG.

“It would feel amazing to bring the game Down Under for the growth of the sport but also for the opportunity to play in front of my friends and my family,” he said.

“I’d have to ask uncle Roger to pay for all the tickets that I’d have to buy. Maybe half the stadium. We’ll see.”

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan set aside the reputational damage of the Commonwealth Games fiasco to the state when she lauded the NFL deal.

“Only Victoria can host an international grand slam, only Victoria can experience the Formula 1 grand prix, only Victoria can break records with the Boxing Day Test — and Victoria is now the only city in Australia to host the NFL,” she said.

-with AAP