Australian sports fans have traditionally gravitated towards rugby, cricket, Aussie Rules and horse racing to get their sporting fix.

However, the narrative has changed significantly in recent years, with American Football making significant inroads into the market.

The United States-based National Football League (NFL) has been on a mission to expand its global footprint and Australia has welcomed it with open arms.

Plans are in place for the NFL to start hosting regular-season games in Melbourne from 2026. With a growing fan base of more than six million people, the NFL is a big deal in Australia.

Why the NFL is Appealing to Australian Fans

Cultural strategist and strategic futures director at SOON Future Studies, Tully Walter, described the NFL’s Super Bowl as a ‘rare, singular event that transcends sport’.

“There’s a sense of ceremony associated with the event,” Walter said. “We don’t see a lot of that anymore, anywhere. Even in Australia, major cultural events are becoming less and less influential, but the Super Bowl retains its gravitas.”

Australian sports events barely get as much global attention as the Super Bowl. Horse racing’s Melbourne Cup ‘stops the nation’, but does not cause much of a ripple elsewhere.

By contrast, the Super Bowl comes wrapped in layers of cultural engagement. Fans are guaranteed live performances while brands take advantage of the viewership to advertise their products to the world.

And it works. According to Luke Haynes of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, the NFL’s ‘celebrity sizzle’ is a major reason why the league has become popular in the Australian market.

“It’s about the celebrities that are there watching,” he said. “It’s about the half-time show. I think if you stripped all that away and it was just a sport with cameras pointed at it – it wouldn’t have anywhere near the same kind of relevance and interest that it does.”

Jordan Mailata’s role in Showcasing the NFL to Australians

Jordan Mailata’s journey from the working-class suburbs of Sydney to becoming a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles is nothing short of extraordinary.

Mailata had never played a single snap of American Football before the Eagles drafted him in 2018. He was playing under-20s rugby league with the South Sydney Rabbitohs while working odd jobs in stage- building, scaffolding and retail to make ends meet. It was a brutal routine, but it prepared him well for the grind of the NFL.

Mailata has a physique made for American Football. When he joined the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program, his raw talent was hard for talent spotters to ignore.

Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland was so impressed by Mailata’s agility and speed that he cancelled a golf trip to see him. The rest, as they say, is history.

A few years down the line, Mailata has lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy, becoming the first Australian to do so. Over the years, he has helped the Eagles become a popular pick on Australian betting sites.

The sportsbooks featured on comparison platform australianbettingsites.net.au are always inundated with wagers whenever Mailata and the Eagles are in action.

Many of them garnered a massive return on their wagers in last season’s Super Bowl and they will be hoping their compatriot enjoys more success in the 2025 campaign.

Laki Tasi Inspiring the Next Generation in Australia

While Mailata’s Super Bowl win was the major headline for Aussie fans this year, Laki Tasi is charting a course that could also get him on the big stage sooner rather than later.

The 21-year-old defensive lineman from Queensland has signed with the Las Vegas Raiders through the IPP program and is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about prospects in Australia.

Tasi comes from a sporting family and grew up playing both rugby league and union. But it wasn’t until a family friend suggested he give the NFL a shot that he even considered switching codes.

He took leap of faith and was soon training in the United States. Since getting his big break, Tasi has made it his mission to inspire the next generation of NFL players in Australia.

“My main goal is to give back to the community – that’s what I want to do, that’s my main thing,” he said.

And he’s already walking the talk. On a recent trip home, he hosted a flag football clinic in Goodna. It was the first of its kind run by the Raiders in Australia.

Tasi is already living the dream, but he reckons the next step is playing in a Super Bowl and potentially representing Australia in flag football at the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.

His involvement in the NFL is guaranteed to trigger even more activity on the platforms featured on australianbettingsites.net.au, further boosting the sport’s profile in Australia.

The NFL’s expansion into Australia is clearly paying dividends on both sides of the world and shows what can be achieved when a league explores the opportunities outside of its home market.