A report Tuesday signaled that the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are likely to start the 2026 NFL season on a rare night of the week. But there are a few obstacles with that specific date for the Hawks.
Seahawks’ home, road opponents set for 2026 season
The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint reported Tuesday morning that the first game of the upcoming NFL season, which traditionally features the previous season’s champions at their home stadium, will be on a Wednesday night – which would be Sept. 9.
The reason for it being bumped a day earlier than the usual Thursday night opener, according to Flint, is the NFL plans to have Thursday be the date for its game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia.
Some small NFL TV news. The first game of the regular season will be on Wednesday night on NBC (vs usual Thursday). The Melbourne game will be on Thursday — platform TBD. NFL can't do a Friday game this year on opening week, hence the tweaks.
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) March 17, 2026
There are two issues with that for Seahawks.
First, the Seattle Mariners, who play across the street from the Seahawks’ Lumen Field at T-Mobile Park, are scheduled for a 6:40 p.m. game that night in the second of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers.
Second, Lumen Field itself is already booked for Sept. 9, with the Seattle Sounders set to host Sporting Kansas City in a 7:30 p.m. game.
So what will happen? It could mean the Seahawks unfortunately having to go on the road to open the defense of their title. There is precedent of this happening, as the Baltimore Ravens followed up their Super XLVII victory by opening the 2013 campaign against the Broncos in Denver due to a scheduling conflict with a Baltimore Orioles game. Similar to the layout in Seattle, the Ravens’ home field, M&T Bank Stadium, is located next to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where the O’s play.
While there may be an announcement of a date for the Seahawks’ 2026 opener sooner, we at least know the latest when we could find out. The NFL typically announces the full schedule for the upcoming regular season on either a Tuesday or Wednesday in the middle of May.
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