Shanahan: Rams Avoided Niner Fans, Want Fairness

0:00On March 31st, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is firing shots at the Los Angeles Rams, saying they pushed hard to play his team in Australia. Just a dodge, the sea of 9er fans at SoFi Stadium. He dropped this on Pro Football Talk, claiming he knows it for a fact. The matchup set for week 1 of the 2026 season in Melbourne, with the Rams as the home team. The 9ers have stuck with two trips out of the country that year, including hosting another game in Mexico City against a yet to be named foe. Shanahan's calling for fairness, requesting the Rams join them down in Mexico, so both squads deal with the travel hassle. 9er fans have been owning SoFi lately, turning Rams home games into red takeover parties. Just last season in week 5, San Francisco edged out a 26-23 overtime win there. Shanahan admits he gets the Rams angle playing, with silent cadences in that noise would be brutal. No real upsides for the teams in these global games, Shanahan says. It's great for the league spreading its wings worldwide, but week 1 means no buy week recovery, and the jet lag hits hard from the jump.

1:07This back and forth has the NFC West rivals, simmering early, expect that Australia opener to feel extra personal when 2026 rolls around. From around the league, powered by AI, this is NFL News Today. I'm Corey with the story.