Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images

When Does the 2026 NFL Season Start?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Zach Kaplan | Last updated Mar 27, 2026 9:39 AM ET

The beginning of the NFL season is always a joyous time - fans of teams who fell short get a hopeful feeling of redemption, and fans of teams who struggled the prior year can hope for a minute that this could be their year.

The question remains, when does the 2026 season begin?

The NFL has been mixing up the opening games, adding primetime Super Bowl rematches and exciting games early in the calendar to maximize viewership, increasingly in markets outside of America.

In 2025, it was the Week 1 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that caught everyone's attention, as 19.7 million viewers globally tuned into the matchup.

This season, however, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and company have upped the ante on the regular season opener, which will take place on a Wednesday in early September.

When Do 2026 Preseason Games Begin?

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold at the Super Bowl parade.Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The NFL preseason unofficially begins with the Hall of Fame Game during Enshrinement Weekend from Aug. 6-9, 2026. This year's game, between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals, is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 6, at 8 p.m. ET at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

The league's standard three-week preseason slate is tentatively scheduled to kick off one week later on Thursday, Aug. 13.

Here's a look at the full NFL offseason calendar leading up to that.

Which Teams Play First in the 2026 Regular Season?

The NFL's 2026 regular season will open with Sam Darnold and the defending-champion Seattle Seahawks playing host to a yet-to-be-announced team on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 8:20 pm ET on NBC.

The game will be the first instance since 2012 that the season will begin on a Wednesday.

Which Teams Will Play in the First International Game?

Shortly following the Seahawks' home and season opener, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will begin their seasons at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia on Thursday, Sept. 10, at approximately 8:35 pm ET. For the two teams, the game will be played at 10:35 am local time.

The game in Melbourne will be one of a record-breaking nine NFL games played on international soil, across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums. In 2025, the NFL played games in Dublin, London, Berlin, and Madrid in addition to the opener in Brazil.

When Does the Rest of the League Begin Its Season?

Week 1 for the rest of the NFL will more than likely be Sunday, Sept. 13, with the first instance of "Monday Night Football" on ESPN presumably coming on Monday, Sept. 14.

In 2025, Week 1 featured a mix of divisional rivalries, such as 49ers-Seahawks and Giants-Commanders, as well as intra-conference matchups such as the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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