New season will kick off on 9 September
League arranges record nine international games
The 2026 NFL season will kick off with a Super Bowl rematch. Mike Macdonald, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks will face off against Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and the New England Patriots after raising their championship banner on 9 September in the first of the season’s 272 games.
The Seahawks dominated the Patriots in a 29-13 victory in February that secured the franchise’s second NFL title.
The game will mark just the third time that the teams that played in the Super Bowl face off again in Week 1. The last time came in 2016, when the Broncos beat the Panthers. The Eagles followed up a Super Bowl victory with another win over the Chiefs in Week 2 last year.
