The most ambitious NFL season in history kicks off on Wednesday with a Super Bowl rematch, an unprecedented global schedule and a clutch of contenders plotting to dethrone the Seattle Seahawks.
Seven months after Seattle defeated the New England Patriots to win their second Super Bowl crown, the two teams meet again on Wednesday to launch a sprawling 2026 campaign that will play out across seven countries in four continents. The NFL’s international roadshow will then roll into Rio de Janeiro on September 27, when the Baltimore Ravens face the Dallas Cowboys at the iconic Maracana Stadium. The now traditional slate of fixtures in London will be followed by the first ever NFL regular season game in France on October 25, when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France in Paris. The league has already voted to increase the number of games outside the United States to 10 in 2027, while NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last month rekindled the age-old debate about the eventual establishment of an overseas franchise.
One of the sub-plots of the season will see the NFL expand its global fooprint as never before. The NFL’s embrace of overseas markets is only set to increase in the years ahead. The first of those fixtures will see the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday the first ever NFL game to be staged in Australia.
