Jim Dolan: Australian Sports Journalist on the NFL heading to Melbourne's MCG

Australian sport is celebrating a major touchdown as the NFL heads to Melbourne. 

The league will host multiple in-season games at Melbourne's MCG beginning next year. 

This comes as the sports championship game, the Super Bowl, takes place in a weeks time. 

Australian Sports Journalist Jim Dolan talks to Mike Hosking about the impact of this major sporting decision. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A very big deal for Australian sport. The NFL will

(00:03):
host multiple in season games at the mcgs up next year,
the Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia Eagles going to
the super Bowl of course this month. Are they going
to open the account in October? Australian sports journalis Jim
Dolan is beck? What is gym morning to you?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Gooday? Mike?

Speaker 1 (00:18):
What's your assessment of how I mean, a lot of
sport goes on in Australia, a lot of big events.
Is this a big deal?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is a very big deal. The NFL, particularly this week,
is very popular throughout the world and Australia to all
eyes on the super Bowl this well, next Monday. But
this game with Jordan Malata particularly, he's tipped to come
with the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a young kid who is
in the South Sydney Rugby league program, decided to have
a crack at America and now he's become a superstar.

(00:46):
And I imagine he's already had a few phone calls
for tickets for next week's game and probably getting a
few text messages from his friends and family too saying
hey what about Melbourne? Can we get down the mcg
to CE live, so he's going to be very popular.
He'll probably be the face of this if the Eagles
are indeed the team that comes, and they interestingly one
of two teams that have global marketing rights in Australia,

(01:11):
the Los Angeles Rams the other. So yeah, the interest
is pretty high because a lot of people take interest
in the NFL now and a chance to see an
in season game very very big.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
And if you look at where they played in Germany
and in England, they've been in England for ages. They
just sell out every game every year, don't they.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, they're going to play eight in season matches internationally,
including the home of Real Madrid now so this season.
So that's going to get a lot of people interested there.
We have had NFL here before when the Broncos played
the Chargers to open the Sydney Olympic Stadium in nineteen
ninety nine. I got caught up in that circus and
four seven forty sevens it takes to bring the teams

(01:50):
and their hangers on. The coaches have a little tower
that gets pushed around training so they watch where they go.
The quarterback has a blow to tow's a big tub
of gatorade. He's never more than a hands distance away,
so they can have a drink before he throws the
next ball. And when they had they put on the
best of the best, all the food for all the Americans.

(02:11):
And I remember two very large gentlemen came over to
me and said that the barrel mundy, the prawns, the
Morton Bay bugs weren't there liking. This is why all
the people in Australia were so skinny because of the
food they ate. Could I take them to somewhere where
they could get a decent hot dog so they might
learn a little bit. But one thing's for sure, Mike,

(02:31):
when they do play, it'll be just like every other
State of Origin and Bledislaw cap matches played in Melbourne.
The first time somebody's tackled, the entire crowd will yell
ball and then giggle themselves silly as they do after
the apaing to.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Be fantastic, Good on your gym. Nice to catch up,
Jim Dolan out of Australia this morning. So that's as
of next year. If you follow the NFL, it's come
so much closer. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
They'd be from six a m. We Got or follow
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