NFL Confirms Sept. 9 Opener, Gives Netflix 1 Week 1 Game Through 2029
Updated
Updated · NFL.com · May 15
NFL Confirms Sept. 9 Opener, Gives Netflix 1 Week 1 Game Through 2029
4 articles · Updated · NFL.com · May 15
Wednesday, Sept. 9 will open the 2026 NFL season with Seattle hosting New England on NBC, followed by Rams-49ers on Netflix the next night in the U.S. before a Friday kickoff in Australia.
A new Netflix deal running through 2029 guarantees the streamer a Week 1 game, and the league said that setup — combined with its push for an Australia opener — could keep the season starting on multiple weekdays.
1961 broadcast-law limits mean the NFL cannot air a Week 1 Friday-night game again until 2029 when that Friday falls on the second Friday of September, making a Wednesday-Thursday opening sequence useful again in 2027 and 2028.
Travel shaped the schedule for the Australia matchup: San Francisco is set for about 38,000 miles and the Rams about 35,000, though both return Sept. 11 and the 49ers get three straight home games afterward.
Prime-time access remained selective elsewhere, with five teams — Tennessee, Miami, Arizona, the Raiders and Jets — shut out in the initial schedule, while the Chargers face a league-worst 22-day rest deficit.
With record travel and unequal rest, is the NFL prioritizing primetime profits over player safety and competitive balance?
The NFL claims rest doesn't affect outcomes, but does the 2026 schedule prove the league's integrity is for sale?