The 2026 NFL season opener in Seattle is still a mystery, but Sunday Night Football will begin with a bang.
NBC Sports announced Monday morning on Today that its first SNF game on Sept. 13 will feature the Cowboys and Giants from MetLife Stadium. The primetime broadcast will feature a Dallas team that, despite up-and-down performance on the field in recent years, remains one of the league’s top television draws, and a New York team that just hired John Harbaugh as its new head coach.
The unveiling was the start of a series of announcements planned over the next several days of key games involving each of the NFL’s main domestic media rights holders.
Those reveals—often incorporating network upfront presentations in New York—will culminate with the release of the full 2026 regular season schedule Thursday night. That slate will feature a series of notable changes from last year, including the likely introduction of a Thanksgiving Eve game and a heightened presence for streamers such as Netflix and YouTube.
The NFL’s focus on maximizing the audience for every one of its 272 regular season games also arrives as the league is looking to build on its 10% viewership growth in 2025. The kickoff game, as a result, is a key part of setting an early tone toward that goal.
The Giants are looking to rebuild under Harbaugh, signed in January to a five-year, $100 million deal that ties him with the Chiefs’ Andy Reid as the league’s highest-paid head coach.
Still Waiting On the Kickoff Game
Neither the NFL nor NBC, however, have yet disclosed their plans for the Sept. 9 opener from Lumen Field. As has been the league’s custom for more than two decades, the defending Super Bowl champion opens the NFL season with the national showcase at home.
Speculation on which of the Seahawks’ nine 2026 home opponents would be in the kickoff game, among both fans and the league’s media partners, began immediately after the team’s overwhelming victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX. The kickoff game also features an unusual Wednesday slotting, as it was moved to help accommodate the league’s first game in Australia the following day.
That high-profile opener will be a key point of focus as anticipation builds toward the full schedule release.
