Tag: Wednesday

Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Champion Seahawks to kick off 2026 NFL season on a Wednesday

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Seattle Seahawks will begin the first step in their defense of their Super Bowl title on a Wednesday as opposed to the traditional Thursday opener to the NFL’s regular season.

The NFL has yet to announce an opponent for the Seahawks, who will host the 2026 opener on Sept. 9.

Seattle is playing one day earlier than usual because of the league’s first-ever regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia, pitting the Los Angeles Rams against the NFC West-rival San Francisco 49ers.

The Australia game will take place Friday, Sept. 11 at 10:35 a.m. local time in Melbourne, which is Thursday, Sept. 10 at 8:35 p.m. ET in the United States.

“We are thrilled to kick off our season in Melbourne, enhancing an already historic moment for both the NFL and the Rams,” said Stephanie Cheng, Rams head of international. “Every time members of our organization visit, including earlier this month, we see first hand the growing excitement from folks across Melbourne in anticipation of this game.

“Not only will it be special playing the 49ers on a Friday morning in Australia, it also will be great for our fans back at home to be able to watch this matchup in primetime on Thursday night.”

The NFL will be opening its season on a Wednesday for the first time since 2012. That year, the New York Giants kicked off the festivities against the Dallas Cowboys on a Wednesday as a means to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

In addition to the game at Australia, the NFL will play international games at London, England (three games), Madrid, Spain, Mexico City, Munich, Germany, Paris, France, and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

–Field Level Media

Dec 21, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; A Philadelphia Eagles fan dressed as Santa cheers during the fourth quarter against the Washington Football Team at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

NFL to play 2 games on Christmas Day, a Wednesday, this year

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NFL is scheduling two games for Christmas Day 2024, even though it falls on a Wednesday.

Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, said Tuesday at the annual league meeting in Orlando, Fla., that the league will play on Wednesday because the fans “clearly spoke” through their viewership. The three Christmas Day games in 2023, played on a Monday, each were among the top 10 in ratings in the regular season, per the Wall Street Journal.

“From what we’ve seen the last couple years is really some unprecedented growth, and not just on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too,” Schroeder said. “The last couple of years have had the highest-regular season game ever viewed in the regular season. That mindset, that opportunity, that belief we have that football brings people together — that’s even truer on these big holidays that happen throughout the year.

“When we saw the viewership from this past year, really our fans clearly spoke. We certainly saw and believe that they are very much enjoying and wanting NFL football on Christmas. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to play a couple of games, like we’ve typically played for well over a decade, probably more than that, on Saturday of Week 16, and then come back and play a couple of games on Christmas Day on Wednesday.”

Wednesday games are rare. The last time a game was played on a Wednesday came in 2021, when a COVID-19 outbreak forced the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers to delay their planned Thanksgiving game until the following Wednesday.

“Well, I think the days are the same for us. We’ve done this,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “In fact, COVID was a learning opportunity, I think it was the first time we played on a Wednesday. It will not be a regular thing. It will be when Christmas falls on a Wednesday. But the time period between games has been done before. We have not seen any elevation of injuries. You all, and we, have had a major focus on Thursday night when we first put it in, and we’ve still not seen any kind of elevation of injuries. So I think we have this down.”

This will be the fifth straight season the NFL has played on Christmas, encroaching on a sports day typically dominated by the NBA.

In 2024, the NFL schedule calls for the league to be idle only on Tuesdays.

The league holds games every week on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, with some late-season contests held on Saturday. A Black Friday game was introduced last year and will continue in 2024, and a Week 1 game in Brazil also will occur on Friday.

–Field Level Media