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The 2026 NFL schedule won't be released until May, but Week 1 is already starting to take shape. The upcoming season is expected to kick off on a Wednesday, which will mark just the second time in 75 years that the NFL season started with a midweek game.

The NFL will also hold a Thursday game in Week 1, and that matchup will feature the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia with the Los Angeles Rams facing the San Francisco 49ers, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Wednesday opener takes place Sept. 9, followed by the Thursday game on Sept. 10. 

Seahawks expected to get rare Wednesday opener

The league has known for more than a month that the first two games of the year would be on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10, but the NFL couldn't decide the best timing for the Australia game.

With the Australia game now set for Thursday, that means the Seahawks will open the 2026 season on Wednesday at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. The winner of the Super Bowl generally hosts the Thursday night opener in the following season, but the NFL would make an exception here. Over the past 75 years, the NFL held only held one Wednesday game in Week 1. That came in 2012 when the NFL scheduled the Cowboys vs. Giants in a way to not conflict with Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Since the Seahawks are the home team, that means they face either the Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Chiefs, Chargers or Patriots (We ranked all the options here). The NFL could put a Super Bowl rematch in that spot with Seattle facing New England, but the league could also go with the Cowboys or Bears. One team you probably won't see in that spot is the Chiefs. That's mainly because it's still unclear if Patrick Mahomes will be available for the game. Mahomes tore his ACL back in December. Although he's aiming for a Week 1 return, it's not set in stone yet. 

Details on Rams-49ers kickoff time in Australia

We know the two teams that will play in Melbourne, but the NFL is still figuring out the kickoff time broadcast details.

The NFL has had to deal with some major time changes so far, but this one will be the biggest. For a Thursday night game to happen, it would have to kick off at 10:20 a.m. on Friday in Melbourne, which would create an 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff on Thursday night in the United States. 

Due to the lengthy flight and extreme time difference, the NFL wants to make sure that both teams have enough time to get ready for their Week 2 game, which is why the league is having the Rams and 49ers play earlier in the week. 

Brodcast wise, the NFL is selling the rights to the Australia game, and that will be part of a mini-package that contains five or six games overall, according to multiple reports. 

There will not be a Friday game in Week 1

The NFL opened with a Friday game in Week 1 in both 2024 and 2025, but that won't happen this year. 

Under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the NFL isn't allowed to televise any games on Friday or Saturday from the second weekend in September through the second weekend in December (Those two days have been earmarked for high school and college football). This is why you don't see any Saturday games on the NFL schedule until late in the season. 

The NFL always kicks off after Labor Day, which is why there's an issue this year. The first Friday on the NFL calendar is Friday, Sept. 11, but that will be the second Friday in September and the league isn't allowed to play on that day. 

The NFL can schedule a Friday (or Saturday) game during the first weekend of September, and that option is available when Labor Day falls on Sept. 1, 2 or 3, which happened in both 2024 and 2025. After this year, the holiday won't fall on one of those three dates again until 2029, so that will likely be the next time we see a Friday game in Week 1.