Get Ready to Show Off Your Green and Gold this Weekend!

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 17: Ernest Jones IV #13 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates an interception during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lumen Field on January 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) Getty Images Fans can add Wednesdays to the growing list of days of the week when they’re able to watch NFL games this season.

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal ’s Joe Flint reported that the league will kick off the 2026 regular season on Wednesday, Sept. 9. That season-opening game will appear on NBC, as it largely has since 2006, and is likely to feature the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

Why the change to a Wednesday kickoff this year? The NFL season has been kicking off on Thursday nights for most of the last 20 years, with 2012 being the most recent exception there. At that time, the league moved the game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants to Wednesday, in order to avoid Democratic National Convention coverage.

This go-around, the opening game gets moved up thanks to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and the NFL’s first-ever contest in Australia. While the Sports Broadcasting Act is meant to protect Friday night high school football games, it is only enforced starting the second Friday of September through the second Saturday of December each year. The NFL has hosted Week 1 Friday games in Brazil for the last two years – with those airing on Peacock and YouTube, respectively – but those games also took place on the first Friday in September.