MELBOURNE — The 2026–27 NFL season will begin on a Wednesday. The Wednesday season opener game will air on NBC and will feature the Seattle Seahawks.

The usual Thursday season opener game will be played in Melbourne, Australia. The NFL is shopping a new four-game package to a streaming service under its equity deal with ESPN that will include the Melbourne game.

The new package is expected to include an annual Wednesday game on the night before Thanksgiving. YouTube is believed to be the frontrunner to acquire the new game package.

By the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, ten NFL teams will have already played games. By Monday of opening week, there will have been three to four days of football games, including college football on Saturday.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 prohibits the NFL from broadcasting games from the second Friday in September until the second Saturday in December. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 protects high school and college football from professional competition.

The NFL held a Christmas Day slate of games last year. The Kansas City Chiefs opened last season’s opening weekend with a game in Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl.