It’s begun to feel as though the NFL endeavors to spider out endlessly in an effort to consume every day possible during the fall and early winter. Great, more football! Right? Well, yes… but also maybe no. There are plenty of discussions to be had about player rest and what adding days of the week to an NFL game calendar does to the quality of its product. This is a violent sport that can’t endure the gauntlet of games found in NHL hockey.
But I digress, as the reason for this article is to address
the fact that the 2026 NFL season actually begins on a Wednesday night this fall: Wednesday, September 9 — and with NBC, to be specific here. In the modern era, or at least in recent seasons, the NFL has opened the regular season with a Thursday evening game. Instead of waiting all day for Thursday night, you’ll have to be on your toes and a day earlier (although, yes, you won’t be able to escape its promotion).
For the 2026 season, there’s still a Thursday primetime game scheduled (September 10), which is being used to broadcast the NFL’s first game in Australia. The 2026 NFL Melbourne Game has the Los Angeles Rams playing “host” to the San Francisco 49ers, which Joe Flint reminds us is still “platform TBD.”
Interestingly, Flint points out that the “NFL can’t do a Friday game this year on opening week, hence the tweaks.” Why, exactly, is that the case — why aren’t they allowed to play a game on Friday?
It all comes down to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which essentially states that the NFL can’t play on Friday (or Saturday) nights from the second Friday in September through the second Saturday in December. The 1961 Act regulates NFL broadcasts during football’s busy season, which includes both college and high school football.
As noted by “Nerding on NFL” the setup used to open the 2024 and 2025 NFL seasons won’t work for 2026, at least as it pertains to the Gregorian calendar. This unique situation is also why this coming season’s NFL in Brazil game is scheduled for Week 3:
“In 2024 and 2025, Week 1’s Friday fell on the first Friday of September, therefore the league could play both those dates. In 2026, Week 1’s Friday lands on the second Friday of September, triggering the SBA restriction
This is also why the game in Brazil will not be Week 1 and will instead be scheduled for Week 3”
It’s an interesting situation, and one that has the modern game of NFL football and its global reach bound by a law that’s now 65 years old.
