The 2026 NFL Kickoff Game opens the NFL regular season on Wednesday 9 September 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle. The defending Super Bowl LX champion Seattle Seahawks host the game, extending a league tradition of letting the reigning champion open the season at home. The kick-off is scheduled for 8:20 pm ET on NBC and Peacock, with the opposition to be confirmed when the full NFL schedule is released later in spring 2026.
What is the NFL Kickoff Game?
The NFL Kickoff Game is the standalone fixture that opens every NFL regular season. Since 2004 the defending Super Bowl champion has hosted the game on home turf, giving the reigning champions a chance to raise their new banner before the year begins. It is presented by the NFL as a festival event, with pre-match concerts, red-carpet arrivals and a ring ceremony the afternoon before the game.
The Kickoff Game has been played on a Thursday every year since its current format was established, with only a handful of exceptions. In 2026, the league has moved the game to Wednesday to avoid a direct clash with a Thursday international fixture between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne. It is only the fifth time since 1950 that an NFL game has opened the season on a Wednesday.
The game marks the official start of the 18-week regular season, which runs from September through early January, and is followed three days later by the full slate of Week 1 fixtures. NBC broadcasts the Kickoff Game as part of its Sunday Night Football rights package, with a concert and host city festival produced by the league in the hours leading up to kick-off.
When is the NFL Kickoff Game 2026?
The 2026 NFL Kickoff Game takes place on Wednesday 9 September 2026, with kick-off at 8:20 pm Eastern Time (5:20 pm Pacific, 1:20 am BST on Thursday 10 September). It is the first of two early-season international or standalone fixtures, followed the next night by the Rams-49ers game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pre-game programming begins around 7:00 pm ET on NBC, with the NFL Kickoff concert scheduled for earlier in the evening from downtown Seattle. The banner-raising ceremony takes place on the field during the pre-game build-up.
Where is the NFL Kickoff Game 2026?
The game is played at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington. Lumen Field has been the home of the Seahawks since 2002 and is known as one of the loudest stadiums in American sport, with a partly enclosed design that traps crowd noise over the field of play. Its capacity for NFL games is 68,740, expandable to around 72,000 with temporary seating.
The stadium is located in the SoDo district of Seattle, directly south of downtown and adjacent to T-Mobile Park, the home of MLB’s Seattle Mariners. Seahawks fans, known as the 12s, have twice set Guinness World Records for crowd noise at the venue, reaching 137.6 decibels in 2013. The Seahawks are unbeaten in home openers at Lumen Field in their last five attempts, and a home Kickoff Game continues the tradition of giving the Super Bowl champions a showcase in front of their own fans.
Key Contenders
The Seattle Seahawks enter the 2026 season as the reigning Super Bowl champions, having defeated their Super Bowl LX opponent in February 2026 to claim the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy. Under head coach Mike Macdonald, now in his third season, Seattle built a defensive identity in 2025 and added a punishing run game to complement a young quarterback room. The Seahawks return the core of their championship roster for 2026, including a Pro Bowl-level defensive front and an offensive line that improved dramatically through the 2025 season.
Macdonald becomes the first Seahawks head coach to open a season as the reigning Super Bowl winner since Pete Carroll in 2014. The banner-raising ceremony will formalise Seattle’s first championship since Super Bowl XLVIII, won by the Seahawks 43-8 over the Denver Broncos in February 2014.
The visiting team has not yet been announced. The NFL traditionally assigns the Kickoff Game to a marquee opponent, with division rivals, other playoff teams or high-profile quarterback matchups typically chosen. The full 2026 schedule is expected to be released in May 2026, with the Kickoff matchup being among the first games confirmed.
How to Watch
The NFL Kickoff Game is broadcast live on NBC across the United States, with streaming on Peacock and NFL+. Spanish-language coverage is available through Telemundo and Universo. Local Seattle viewers can watch on KING 5, NBC’s affiliate in the city. Radio coverage is provided nationally by Westwood One, with the Seahawks Radio Network handling the local broadcast.
In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports NFL carries the Kickoff Game live, with a 1:20 am BST start on Thursday morning. NFL Game Pass on DAZN provides streaming access for international subscribers across Europe, Asia and Latin America. In Germany, RTL and DAZN share rights to Monday Night Football and the Kickoff Game. In Canada, DAZN holds exclusive NFL rights and streams the match live. Australian viewers can watch through ESPN Australia, which has NFL rights through the Disney portfolio, and Mexican audiences can watch on TUDN and Televisa. The NFL’s own NFL+ streaming service offers full-match replays to subscribers in all markets.
History and Records
The NFL Kickoff Game in its current form began in 2002, created by the league as part of a broader effort to promote football following the September 11 attacks. The inaugural game was held on Thursday 5 September 2002 in New York, when the San Francisco 49ers edged the Giants 16-13 at the old Giants Stadium. From 2004 onwards, the NFL began scheduling the Kickoff Game at the home stadium of the defending Super Bowl champion, a tradition that has held almost every year since.
Reigning champions have a strong record in their Kickoff Games but are far from invincible. The most famous upset came in 2015, when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the defending champion New England Patriots 28-21 in Foxborough. The 2013 Ravens remain the only Super Bowl champions in the Kickoff era to open the season on the road, the result of a scheduling conflict with an Orioles home game in Baltimore. The 2019 New England Patriots did not play in the Kickoff Game at all, the most recent exception to the tradition.
The highest-scoring Kickoff Game was the 2018 opener, when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons 18-12 in a defensive battle that belied its unusually low total. The most watched NFL Kickoff Game in history was the 2006 opener between Pittsburgh and Miami, which drew over 23 million viewers on NBC. The league has also used the Kickoff Game to unveil rule changes, experiments with in-helmet communication technology and shifts in officiating emphasis.
Tickets and Attendance
Tickets for the 2026 Kickoff Game went on sale to Seahawks season-ticket holders and club members in spring 2026, with any remaining seats made available to the general public through Ticketmaster and the Seahawks official site. The Kickoff Game traditionally sells out quickly, and general-admission resale prices can reach four figures for premium seating. The secondary market, including StubHub, SeatGeek and VividSeats, lists tickets starting in the low hundreds of dollars for upper-level seats, with field-level and club seating running significantly higher.
Suite and hospitality packages are sold through the Seahawks’ premium sales office and typically include pre-game field access and catering. The league’s Kickoff Concert is free to attend for members of the public at an outdoor venue in Seattle confirmed closer to the event date.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the NFL Kickoff Game 2026 start?
The game kicks off at 8:20 pm ET on Wednesday 9 September 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Where is the NFL Kickoff Game 2026 being held?
At Lumen Field in Seattle, home of the Seattle Seahawks.
How can I watch the NFL Kickoff Game 2026?
Live on NBC and Peacock in the US, Sky Sports NFL in the UK, DAZN in Canada and parts of Europe, and on NFL Game Pass internationally.
Who is playing in the 2026 NFL Kickoff Game?
The Seattle Seahawks, who are the defending Super Bowl champions, will host the game. Their opponent will be confirmed when the full 2026 NFL schedule is announced in May.
Why is the 2026 Kickoff Game on a Wednesday?
The NFL moved the game to Wednesday to avoid a clash with the Rams vs 49ers game in Melbourne, Australia, which is scheduled for the following night. It is only the fifth Wednesday NFL season opener since 1950.