It’s no secret that San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is not happy about having to play the division rival Los Angeles Rams in Australia to open the 2026 NFL season.
He even said as much to reporters a few days ago when he was asked how he felt about having to play the Rams 19 hours outside of the United States.
“I was so fired up [when I heard],” Shanahan said with a great deal of sarcasm. “That was our goal to go 19 hours away to play a game. … We’ll deal with it. And I think there’s [nine] international games. We’ve got two of them, so we’re fired up about that.
“… I don’t see any pro [for us]. It’s cool for the league to play globally. I think that’s awesome. But as far as the team doing it, no, there’s not much benefit to it. Sometimes it’s nice to get a bye week after but doesn’t happen in Week 1.”
Shanahan Takes Brutal Shot at Rams
GettySan Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay
Shanahan’s objections to the Australia game are well-noted, but he recently took the opportunity during an appearance on “Pro Football Talk” to make it clear why he believes the game is happening in the first place.
“I’m pretty sure the Rams lobbied for that game,” Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur stated.
“I know for a fact they did, that’s why it’s so bothersome,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully the league will do right and let us play the Rams in Mexico since we got to go out of the country twice and they requested us. I’m requesting them in Mexico — not that that gives us an advantage, it’s just fair to make them go out of the country.”
“So you think the Rams have lobbied because they’re sick of seeing the 49ers dominate the crowd at SoFi?” PFT analyst Chris Simms asked.
Shanahan responded: “Yeah, and I get that — that would suck to have to do a silent cadence and have our home game at their stadium, so I get their ambitions. But they were rewarded that, so I’m hoping we can get our request too. I’d love them to come to Mexico. Our Mexican fan base is awesome.”
49ers Fans Have History of Taking Over SoFi Stadium
GettySoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams
Shanahan’s gripe may be founded in some truth.
Given its close proximity to Levi’s Stadium (351 miles) compared to other road venues, SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams, has been dubbed “Levi’s South” by many fans and analysts in recent years.
In fact, during many television broadcasts, announcers have made it a point to emphasize the fact that the number of red in the stands appears to outnumber the blue.
Ticket resale sites have even estimated that as much as 65% of SoFi Stadium’s capacity consisted of 49ers fans according to ticket sales data.
The phenomenon even drew so much attention that the SoFi Stadium Wikipedia page was even renamed to “Levi’s South” back in 2023.
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