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NFL could buck decades-long trend to open 2026 season; Eagles could play in several international games

The Eagles could end up in an international game during the 2026 season, anywhere from Brazil to Spain to England.

The NFL will reportedly host its first-ever Australian game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne in Week 1.
The NFL will reportedly host its first-ever Australian game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne in Week 1. Read moreAsanka Brendon Ratnayake / AP
    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

We knew Roger Goodell was serious about pushing the NFL internationally, but we didn’t know he was this serious.

The NFL is considering beginning the 2026 season on a Wednesday night, bucking a two-decades trend of holding the annual NFL Kickoff game on a Thursday night.

After winning the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks would traditionally host the kickoff game. But according to Puck’s John Ourand, the NFL plans to also schedule its first-ever game in Melbourne, Australia between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, possibly on the first Wednesday night of the season.

But the NFL is also considering holding both the NFL kickoff game and its first Australia game Thursday night, the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin previously reported.

The last time the NFL kicked the season off on a Wednesday was 2012, when the league shifted its schedule to avoid going up against then-President Barack Obama’s speech during the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Prior to that, the NFL hadn’t opened the season on a Wednesday since 1948.

So why doesn’t the NFL just schedule its new Australian game on Friday, as they’ve done the past two years with their Brazil games? Because under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, the NFL is prohibited from scheduling games on Friday nights from mid-September to mid-December in order to protect high school and college sports.

With some help from the calendar, the NFL was able to squeeze in a Week 1 Friday night game the past two seasons. This year they’re not so lucky, with kickoff Thursday falling on Sept. 10.

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Whether it happens on Wednesday or Thursday, the Seattle Seahawks will begin to defend their Super Bowl championship title at home to start the season, likely against the Chicago Bears.

Two big question marks remain: The first is where will the Australia game air? The NFL is currently negotiating broadcast rights with streaming companies, and the favorite has to be YouTube, which streamed last year’s Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers matchup from Brazil. YouTube exec Christian Oestlien has already said the streamer wants to carry more live NFL games, and they already proved they can handle the demand with minimal tech problems.

But Peacock could also be a possibility. NBC’s subscription streaming service had exclusive rights to the NFL’s first Brazilian game, and last year it had exclusive rights to a Week 17 Saturday night game between the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens.

Another unanswered question is when the game will air in the U.S. You have to assume the NFL will want the game played in prime-time on the East Coast, especially if it kicks off the 2026 season, but that 16-hour time difference is tricky. An 8 p.m. kickoff time in Philadelphia on a Wednesday would mean the game was starting at noon Thursday in Melbourne.

Eagles likely to play in an international game?

The expansion into Australia is one of a record nine NFL games being held outside the United States this season.

Here’s a quick recap of what we know:

  1. Melbourne, Australia: 49ers at Rams

  2. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: TBA at Dallas Cowboys

  3. Paris, France: TBA at New Orleans Saints

  4. Munich, Germany: TBA at TBA

  5. Mexico City, Mexico: TBA at 49ers

  6. Madrid, Spain: TBA at TBA

  7. London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): TBA at TBA

  8. London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): TBA at TBA

  9. London, England (Wembley Stadium): TBA at Jaguars

In addition, the Atlanta Falcons — who aren’t on the Eagles 2026 schedule — announced they are the designated home team for one of the international games. The Washington Commanders will also be the home team in one international game, according to The Athletic.

The Eagles have an extra home game in 2026 thanks to the NFL’s odd 17-week season, and could land in a number of international spots.

First, there’s Rio de Janeiro, where the Eagles could face the Cowboys. The Birds have marketing rights in Brazil and played there just two seasons ago, but the NFL generally avoids scheduling divisional matchups in international games (though it’s already bucking that trend with 49ers-Rams in Australia, plus the Chiefs have played the Chargers, an AFC West foe, twice on foreign soil).

Mexico City is also in play, since the Eagles face the 49ers on the road next season. So is London, where the Birds are scheduled to play a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and two home teams have yet to be announced.

The NFL also hasn’t announced which teams will be hosting games at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany and Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain.

Quick hits

  1. The Super Bowl averaged 124.9 million viewers Sunday, down from last year but still good enough for the second-highest audience in the game’s history. But we should be talking about Puppy Bowl XVIII, which featured three Pennsylvania pups and drew 15.3 million viewers on Animal Planet and across Warner Bros. Discovery properties earlier in the day, the show’s biggest audience since 2018.

  2. Credit where it’s due: Now former Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos admitted to bringing a beer into the dugout last season, but he wouldn’t have fessed up if The Athletic’s Matt Gelb hadn’t asked about the incident.

  1. Kudos to the Baltimore Banner, the successful digital news start up down in Charm City, which announced plans to expand its sports coverage to Washington, D.C. after the Washington Post eliminated it’s entire sports desk. Banner Editor-in-Chief Audrey Cooper said they plan to start by hiring beat reporters to cover the Washington Nationals and Washington Commanders, calling it “part of our unwavering commitment to serve Maryland with honest, independent journalism.”

  2. Sports podcaster Josh Shapiro, who also happens to be the governor of Pennsylvania, got former Sixers GM Billy King discussing a wild, four-team trade that nearly sent Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons ahead of the 2000-01 season. Of course, Iverson went on to be named NBA MVP that season and led that iconic Sixers team to the NBA Finals. They haven’t been back since.