The league's first regular-season game in Australia lands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday morning local time — Thursday night in the States — and the NFL didn't send a filler matchup. It sent the Super Bowl favorite. The Rams trade at 17.5% to win Super Bowl LXI, more than double any other team, with 26% to win the NFC and the highest market-implied win total in the league at 10.7.
That price is built on names this game will feature heavily: Matthew Stafford sits at 5.5% on the MVP board, and Puka Nacua is the fantasy market's WR1 at 19% to lead all receivers in scoring. The market's entire 2026 thesis runs through Los Angeles, and it gets tested 8,000 miles from home before the team plays a down at SoFi.
San Francisco is the awkward guest at the coronation. The market gives the 49ers 9.1 implied wins and 7.5% to win the NFC — tied with Green Bay for 4th — which is respectable and also a full tier below their division rival. A Week 1 road win (if a neutral site in a cricket stadium counts as one) would put an immediate dent in the board's biggest number.
One scheduling note that matters for the standings: both teams take the long-haul travel hit in the same week, but the NFC West is the market's most crowded division — the Rams at 10.7 implied wins, Seattle at 10.0 and San Francisco at 9.1 guarantees somebody good finishes 3rd. Week 1 head-to-heads inside that division are worth more than the usual September game.