Netflix announcer ridiculed for Melbourne pronunciation during NFL's first ever Australia game

Netflix NFL announcer Noah Eagle did not offer any Australian cliches during the league's first game on the continent this week.

But while he may have avoided the pitfalls of a 'G'day, mate' or Paul Hogan's cringeworthy 'shrimp on the barbie' during the 49ers win over the Rams, Eagle instead embraced the local pronunciation of Melbourne.

'San Francisco will have two timeouts and look to go 80 yards down the field, a double dip here in Melbin,' Eagle said during the livestream. 'A beautiful scene for some football.'

Americans were understandably confused to hear anything other than a phonetic pronunciation of Melbourne, which shouldn't come as a surprise. The city of Melbourne, Florida is pronounced by locals with a 'bern' rather than an abrupt 'bin.'

'Love Noah Eagle but if he says "Melbin" one more time, so help me God,' SB Nation's Jarrett Bailey wrote on X.

'Can these reporters for the NFL game stop saying 'Melbin' for where they are every other sentence?' another fan asked. 'They aren't Australian. They don't have the accent. It sounds so dumb every time they say it. They're in Melbourne.'

Even non-Americans were confused by Eagle's pronunciation.

'Yeah, the over-the-top affectation of pronouncing Melbin is pretty grating,' Irish NFL analyst Sam Monson added. 'A simple MEL-burn would get you there as a neat halfway between Yankifying it and trying to be local.'

'American broadcasters pronouncing melbourne as "melbin" feels like a european tourist pronouncing new york as "noo yawk,"' a Chargers fan added.

The debate became so heated that a community note was ultimately added to one of Noah's clips.

'Noah Eagle used the local Australian pronunciation of Melbourne ("Mel-bin" or "Melb'n"), not a mispronunciation,' read the note.

Eagle, the son of longtime NBA and NFL announcer Ian Eagle, did get tremendous reviews for his work with color commentator Luke Kuechley.

'Noah Eagle & Luke Kuechly are killing it on this broadcast,' one fan wrote. 'Chemistry, insight, humor, it's all there. They sound like they've been doing games together for years.'

Unfortunately, fans will need to wait until Thanksgiving eve for Netflix to air another NFL game with the pair. The streaming service bought the rights to the Green Bay Packers matchup with the Rams on November 25.

Netflix is also carrying two Christmas Day games (Packers-Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills-Denver Broncos) before hosting another matchup in Week 18. In addition to his work with Netflix, Kuechly is also slated to announce a dozen games for the Panthers Radio Network this season.