NFL Season Start Moves Up to a Wednesday

The NFL completed its expected plans to begin its 2026 season on a Wednesday, with the Sept. 9 game set for Lumen Field in Seattle. 

The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks will face a still-unannounced opponent on NBC, clearing the Thursday primetime slot on Sept. 10 that normally would have started the season for the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. That Melbourne event will involve the Rams as the home team against the 49ers, a key NFC West division rival.

The unusual start to the upcoming regular season, actively in development for several weeks, was necessary for two key reasons: the travel considerations involved in the trip to Australia, and the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. The lengthy journey to Melbourne and back will require additional time for the Rams and 49ers. Playing that contest on the Friday or Saturday of that week, however, was not permissible for the NFL due to the federal statute aimed at protecting high school and college football. 

That, in turn, pushed the customary league opener involving the defending title winner one day earlier. The Seahawks will face one of nine potential opponents for that high-profile broadcast, with the Chiefs and Bears standing out as notable possibilities.  

With the time difference, the Melbourne game will happen Friday morning locally, but air live on Thursday night back in the U.S. A broadcaster for that game has not been named. 

The NFL last opened its season on a Wednesday in 2012, when it did so to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. 

The full 2026 NFL schedule is set to be released in May. Once that happens, though, it will contain several new wrinkles, including an unprecedented nine international games, more standalone broadcasts, and a potential Thanksgiving Eve contest. 

Each of those games could involve replacement officials if the current labor difficulties between the league and NFL Referees Association continue.