Inside the rarity of the Seattle Seahawks' Week 1 draw to open the 2026 season.
The Seattle Seahawks took part in the NFL's final game of the 2025 season, where they made quick work of the New England Patriots to claim the franchise's second Super Bowl title in Santa Clara.
Now, the Seahawks will host the NFL's first game of the following season as the reigning champions ... but not in typical fashion.
It was announced this week that Seattle will host the season's opening game at Lumen Field on Wednesday, Sep. 9. The game will air live on NBC at 5:20 p.m. PT.
Yes, the Wednesday draw is an unconventional gameday in the league calendar, but the league is working around the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams - two of the Seahawks' NFC West rivals - who face each other in Week 1 on Thursday evening.
The 49ers and Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia in the first-ever NFL regular season game played in the country. That game's kickoff will actually be 10:35 a.m. local time (AEST) Friday Sep. 11, but will air live in the United States at 5:35 p.m. PT on Thursday, Sep. 10.
In total, there will be nine international games played across seven countries this NFL season.
Last season, the NFL held a game in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Chargers beat Chiefs 27-21) on Friday of Week 1 after the reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, 24-20.
Seattle's Week 1 opponent has yet to be announced. The complete schedule is usually announced in May, shortly after the 2026 NFL Draft in late April.
According to the team website, the Seahawks will play in just the fifth Wednesday game since 1950. Seattle will also become the ninth franchise to have played on every day of the week at some point in their team's history, joining the Cowboys, Rams, Eagles, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Washington Commanders.
This will be just the second-ever occurance of an NFL season kick-off happening on a Wednesday. The first instance was in 2012 when the Cowboys beat the Giants 24-17 in the Meadowlands on Wednesday, Sep. 5.
That game was moved due to President Barack Obama's scheduled speech at the Demoncratic National Convention on Thursday, the previously-scheduled kick-off date.
