Both the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams gave ample evidence on how to handle both the travel and preparation for games to be played in Australia—a precedent-setting first-ever experience when Week 1 kicked off.
The Niners, by nearly every account, handled this appropriately. L.A., in contrast, did about everything wrong despite being granted marketing rights for the continent.
Fans know the story well by now. San Francisco opted to travel the arduous 16-hour flight a week in advance, allowing players' bodies time to acclimate while also immersing themselves in the fanbase via events and apperances. Los Angeles, in contrast, headed out not two days before kickoff, feeling as if it could maintain a Pacific Timezone-type schedule without any sort of physical impact.
The 49ers' one-sided 27-7 victory is ample evidence they took the right approach.
Now, the fallout from both NFC West squads' decisions will certainly have ramifications, as the NFL assuredly will look to schedule more games down under in future years.
And it couldn't be more obvious which precedent Australia-traveling teams will choose to adopt.
Future teams traveling to Australia will copy 49ers' early travel plans
Both the Niners and Rams felt their vastly different approaches would work, but a visibly sluggish L.A. squad certainly couldn't have convinced 30 other teams its travel arrangements were the right way to go.
Instead, future teams heading to Australia for international games will understand how successful San Francisco was, not only at adjusting to the time change but also winning over the local fanbase well in advance of the contest. Los Angeles may still have marketing rights on the continent, but the fact a hefty majority of fans in attendance at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Grounds were pulling for the 49ers suggests other teams will have ample opportunity to garner support.
The Niners helped set that precedent, too.
NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco expanded on this, saying how San Francisco's approach will ultimately influence what other teams opt to do when they find themselves on the Australian docket:
The result of Week 1 leads one to believe the 49ers handled the travel situation a lot better than the Rams. In the future, NFL teams assigned to play in Australia will be more apt to follow the lead of the 49ers, that’s for sure.
If those same teams want a lesson in what not to do, they'll look at the Rams.
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