Overview
- The league’s announcement Wednesday set the champion Seattle Seahawks to open at Lumen Field on Sept. 9 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, with their opponent to be revealed when the full schedule drops in mid‑May.
- Los Angeles and San Francisco will meet at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the NFL’s first regular‑season game in Australia, kicking off Friday at about 10:35 a.m. AEST and airing live in the United States on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 8:35 p.m. ET.
- The NFL moved its traditional Thursday opener to Wednesday because the Australia game needs a primetime U.S. window and the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 bars most Friday and Saturday TV games from the second Friday in September through mid‑December.
- A U.S. broadcast or streaming partner for the Melbourne telecast is still unannounced, while tickets open in phases with Rams season‑ticket presales on April 1, hospitality on April 6, and public sales on April 7 (all times PT) through Ticketmaster.
- This start will be only the second Wednesday opener since 2012 and the fifth since 1950, and it launches a record nine international regular‑season games in 2026 across venues in Australia, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Mexico City and Munich.