When you are on either coast, the odds of you traveling the most miles in the NFL are high. That was the case for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025, as they traveled more than 28,000 miles, amounting to the most of any team in the league.
Trips to New Orleans, New York, Cleveland, Houston, and Indianapolis played a factor in that number. The 49ers will have a pair of international games in 2026. If you thought the domestic trips were taxing, games played in Melbourne, Australia, and Mexico City mean the travel will be closer to 38,000 miles this upcoming season. Over 15,000 of those miles will be to Australia, while another 3,800 or so will account for Mexico City.
We don’t know when the games will take place, though the Rams game down under is expected in Week 1. Here is a look at the travel schedule, per Bill Speros:
- 49ers at Rams (Melbourne, Australia) – 15,738 miles
- 49ers at Giants – 5,111 miles
- 49ers at Falcons – 4,258 miles
- 49ers home game in Mexico City (opponent TBD) – 3,854 miles
- 49ers at Chiefs – 2,958 miles
- 49ers at Cowboys – 2,934 miles
- 49ers at Seahawks – 1,412 miles
- 49ers at Cardinals – 1,224 miles
- 49ers at Chargers – 616 miles
According to Speros’ article, the 49ers will break the record set last season by the Chargers (37,086) by more than 1,000 miles. It will also be the most time zones traveled in league history.
The 49ers get to play the AFC West, which means trips to Kansas City and Los Angeles as opposed to Houston and Indiana last year. The cross-country trips to Atlanta and New York will come against teams with question marks, especially at quarterback.
While there’s no getting around a hectic travel schedule early in the season, it’s hard to believe the schedule makers will do anything other than sandwich home games after the long road trips, and possibly even back-to-back home games.
The miles and travel feel a bit overblown, but they will make for a good excuse if the 49ers drop a game. I’d argue the late-season primetime scheduling leading up to Week 18 was worse than the Miles argument above.
What do you think, does the travel schedule put the 49ers at a disadvantage this upcoming season?