About 400 athletes, coaches, staff and scouts are in town for this weekend's clash between University of California, Berkeley and University of Hawaii where upwards of 60,000 fans are expected to witness the first American football action on Australian soil since 1999.

Each side has flown its entire playing roster of 105 players to town, while Hawaii, affectionately known as the Rainbow Warriors, expect more than 1200 fans will make the journey to Sydney for the inaugural Sydney Cup.

Team Hawaii landed on Sunday night while the Golden Bears of California arrived on Monday afternoon.

Rainbow Warriors coach Nick Rolovich, who has three Australians on his roster in Max Hendrie, Ben Scruton and Stan Gaudion, instantly fell in love with the country.

"I'm yet to meet one [an Australian] I don't like, they're way up there in my books, great people," Rolovich said.

"You guys are lucky you live here. If they kick me out of my country, I'm coming here, save me a room.

"How many people get to play their first game in Australia in Sydney? Your grandkids aren't going to believe you that you got to do this in September when you're 20 years old.

"People would die for this opportunity, they need to remember that."

American College football is one of the world's best-supported sports, and the Golden Bears are one of its biggest teams.

Let's take the recently concluded Rio Olympic Games. Athletes who came through the University of California, Berkeley's substantial athletics program won 12 gold medals.

That's enough to rank them seventh in the overall medal tally, wedged between Japan and France. It's four more gold medals than won by the entire Australian team.

The Golden Bears are on a high after providing the NFL with its latest No.1 draft pick – quarterback Jared Goff who was taken by the LA Rams.

Previous alumni include Green Bay Packers champion Aaron Rodgers and destructive Seahawks running back Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch.

Significant investment goes into the football program. Coach Sonny Dykes is contracted until the end of 2019 and averages a salary around $US2.41 million per season.

The Sydney experiment should prove a financially rewarding trip for both colleges, with the Golden Bears reportedly set to earn somewhere in the region of $1 million.

Hawaii will also get their chunk of the pie which athletics director David Matlin said would give the college's athletics program a significant boost.

"We'll net some money from this game," Matlin said. "Most college athletics programs are struggling financially so that would make a difference that we can invest back into our program."