Each NFL season usually begins with the defending Super Bowl champions hosting a Thursday night game. Apparently, that won’t be the case this fall.
The NFL has already announced that Week 1 of the 2026 season will include an international showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. They’ll be heading to Melbourne for this NFC West matchup.
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John Ourand of Puck recently threw out the idea of the NFL season opening in Australia with the Rams and 49ers. That would essentially steal the spotlight from the Seattle Seahawks‘ home opener at Lumen Field.
Well, according to Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal, the NFL season could open up on Wednesday night with the Seahawks. Not only would that allow the defending champions to kick off the 2026 campaign, it would give the Thursday night window to the Melbourne game.
“Some small NFL TV news. The first game of the regular season will be on Wednesday night on NBC (vs usual Thursday),” Flint said. “The Melbourne game will be on Thursday — platform TBD. NFL can’t do a Friday game this year on opening week, hence the tweaks.”
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This scheduling change has not been confirmed by the NFL yet.
Oct 2, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) makes a catch against San Francisco 49ers cornerback Upton Stout (20) during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
(© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)There might be multiple Wednesday games this NFL season.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter recently reported that a Thanksgiving Eve game could be added to the 2026 schedule.
“They’re exploring one on Thanksgiving Eve? The NFL wants to play a game on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Half the games you give us on Thanksgiving stink anyway because you can’t flex it and we’re stuck with Denver-Kansas City with freakin’ no Mahomes! So now we’re gonna explore playing a game on Thanksgiving Eve,” Chris Russo said, via Awful Announcing. ““They’re exploring one on Thanksgiving Eve? The NFL wants to play a game on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Half the games you give us on Thanksgiving stink anyway because you can’t flex it and we’re stuck with Denver-Kansas City with freakin’ no Mahomes! So now we’re gonna explore playing a game on Thanksgiving Eve,” Russo said, via Awful Announcing.”
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Despite all the outrage over Wednesday games, the NFL is going to do what’s best for its ratings. And if we had to guess, that means they’ll space out their prime-time games.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Mar 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.