The eve of the 2026 NFL season arrives Tuesday as the league continues to push the boundaries of its popularity both domestically and internationally.
Fresh off completing their $9.612 billion sale, the reigning champion Seahawks begin their title defense in a Super Bowl LX rematch against the Patriots on Wednesday night, a day earlier than the league typically kicks off. The last time the NFL season began on a Wednesday rather than Thursday was in 2012 in order to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
This season’s opener—on NBC, as usual—is on Wednesday because the NFL’s debut game in Australia (49ers-Rams) will air Thursday night due to the league’s inability to play on Friday like it has done on Week 1 the previous two years. That’s because the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 precludes pro football games from happening on Fridays or Saturdays beginning with the second Friday of September and continuing through the second Saturday in December. The 49ers-Rams matchup is being played Friday morning in Australia, but that does not violate the rules, since Melbourne is 14 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast, giving the game an 8:35 p.m. ET kick off.
