As the Rams prepare for the NFL's first-ever game in Australia – taking on the 49ers at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, September 11; live in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 10 at approximately 5:35 PM PT – players will have two teammates who can serve as resident experts, or at least tour guides.
Running back Kyren Williams and offensive lineman Kevin Dotson got to experience the land down under first hand, taking part in a wide range of promotional events throughout Melbourne earlier this month.
Highlights of the trip included a visit to the Melbourne Zoo, a Cadillac Formula 1 event which marked the launch event for Cadillac's introduction into F1 racing, during which they met Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas; and attending the National Rugby League opening game featuring Storm vs Eels.
"What surprised me most about Melbourne the city is the culture," Williams said in a sit-down interview with Rams Studios during the trip. "When I first got here and I was walking around, I was able to see just what the impact of the people are just walking around. I saw a lot of people running. I saw a lot of just people just hanging out, eating food and that inspired me to wake up the next day and join the run club and just do the things that locals would do."
"I think the thing that really surprised me just getting here was the amount of stuff to do, and the amount of nature that's mixed into their culture," Dotson said in a separate sit-down interview during the trip. "Like just being in the city at the same time, they'll still have a lot of foliage, a lot of greenery around, and I think that that really ties the city in."
Besides those activities, both players also conducted Nike youth clinics and school visits with 400 children, while also making the rounds with Australian media, among many other events.
"We went to the camps yesterday, and it just kind of showed me how far the NFL has reached, and who it can reach," Dotson said. "And like the things that it's done for me personally and the things that it can do for a kid that's coming out of a bad situation, being able to help his family, being able to accomplish things he never thought was possible, and to be on a team like the Rams that get to travel and do these things, that just expands upon that even more, the reach that you have to help the youth. Not just the youth from your state, not just from your country, (but) to go to another country and possibly help somebody to have that dream as well."
They also got to check out the MCG, which may be the one thing they have trouble adequately describing compared to the rest of their experiences from the trip. According to Dotson, it's something they will have to experience in person for themselves.
"It was actually kind of hard to imagine myself playing there because the field was such a humongous amount of land," Dotson said. "It felt like three acres of land. It was just mind blowing to see that like this piece of history for the country was such a... like the fact that I'm gonna be there is the thing that's really gonna be the thing that just wows me. I can't wait for our teammates to get here and be able to see it. ... I feel like I can't describe it to 'em in great enough detail to get them to feel what I felt when I walked in."
The trip was the latest step in the Rams deepening their connection with fans in that international market within broader efforts to build their global brand. They were first awarded Australia as an International Home Marketing Area (IHMA) – along with China and Mexico – on December 15, 2021. As part of that program, they have rights to pursue activities in that international market similar to what they do do in their domestic home marketing area, such as in-person and digital marketing, corporate sponsorship sales, fan events and activations, youth football activities, merchandise sales and co-marketing relationships with other sports and entertainment properties in the market.
