The NFL is breaking one of its oldest traditions: the season opener in 2026 will not take place on a Thursday evening as usual. Instead, the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, will kick off the new season on Wednesday, September 9th. The league announced this on Wednesday.
The reason for the change is a special international highlight. The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will play their opening game in Melbourne, Australia. This will be the first regular season NFL game ever played on Australian soil. In order to avoid any overlap, the league has moved up the original opening game. The flight time from Melbourne to the US West Coast is around 14 hours. According to the NFL, it would not be feasible for the teams to play on a typical Sunday.
The Seahawks’ game will take place in Germany on Wednesday night at 2:20 AM. The opponent has not been determined yet. The league will announce this during the schedule reveal in May. According to sources within the league, the Seahawks could potentially play against the Dallas Cowboys.
It is very rare for the NFL to schedule a game on a Wednesday. The last time this happened was in 2012, when the New York Giants’ opening game against the Dallas Cowboys was postponed due to a speech by US President Barack Obama at the Democratic Party convention.
Having a Friday game at the start, as has been the case in previous years, is not an option this time. This is due to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which prohibits TV broadcasts of professional football on Fridays and Saturdays from the 2nd Friday in September to the 2nd Saturday in December. In the past two years, the international season opener fell on the 1st Friday in September.
The game in Melbourne is part of a record season: a total of nine international games are planned for 2026. The 49ers will play outside the US twice, and will also have a home game at the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
