Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl LX championsand the countdown has already begun for the start of the defense of its title in the 2026 NFL season.
The next campaign starts on Wednesday, September 9, breaking with more than two decades of tradition in which the opening match was almost always played on a Thursday, with the monarch of the Super Bowl as location.
Sources close to Los Angeles @RamsNFL y San Francisco @49ers consulted by Heraldo Media Group They confirm that the league already has this adjustment planned due to calendar complications.
Curiously, September 11, 2026 will mark exactly 25 years since the attacks on the Twin Towers, a milestone that could influence the programming of that week to avoid any sensitive coincidence with commemorative events in the United States. This context adds another layer of sensitivity to final calendar decisions.
The main trigger is the first regular season game in Australia: 49ers vs. Rams en el Melbourne Cricket Ground during Week 1. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 prohibits games on a Friday or Saturday from the second Friday in September to the second Saturday in December, so as not to compete with high school and college football. With Labor Day on September 7, the following Friday is the second of the month, which bans that date.
Sunday is ruled out due to extreme logistics: a 15-16 hour flight from the West Coast and a 14-16 hour time difference with US Eastern Time. The @NFL analyzes a start between 8:30 and 9:00 pm ET (10:30 or 11:00 am the next day in Melbourne). If they opt for Wednesday, both teams would have more recovery for Week 2, although that would shift the defending champion Seahawks to Thursday, for their home opener.
It would be only the fifth Wednesday game in the modern era (the most recent on Christmas 2024 and another due to COVID in 2020). This duel will headline a record nine international matches in 2026, with four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums, and premieres in Paris and Rio de Janeiro. The full schedule will be announced in May, when dates and times will be finalized after deliberations.
MAZ
date: 2026-02-15 12:44:00
Related reading