NFL Season Opens with Super Bowl LX Rematch as NBC Carries Patriots-Seahawks Kickoff

The 2026 NFL season gets underway Wednesday night at Seattle’s Lumen Field, where the defending champion Seahawks will host the New England Patriots in a rematch of February’s Super Bowl LX. The rare Wednesday opener comes as the league reshuffled its Week 1 calendar, moving the kickoff game up a day to accommodate Thursday’s Rams-49ers matchup in Melbourne — the first NFL regular-season contest ever staged in Australia.

New England arrives with momentum and a point to prove. After a 4-13 finish two seasons ago, the Patriots went 14-3 last year, a 10-win turnaround that matched an NFL record and delivered the franchise’s first AFC East crown since 2019 behind second-year quarterback Drake Maye. The Super Bowl, however, did not go New England’s way: Seattle’s defense sacked Maye six times and forced three turnovers in a 29-13 win.

Bookmakers have installed Seattle as a 3.5-point favorite in the rematch, setting up a Week 1 measuring stick between the league’s reigning champion and one of its fastest-rising teams. Maye will be matched against Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold as both franchises open what each hopes will be another deep postseason run.

Broadcast details and the media angle

The game is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET, with coverage airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock — a showcase window for Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), whose NBCUniversal division holds the NFL’s Sunday and marquee night packages. Comcast shares closed at $26.33 previously and were trading recently at $24.59, down 6.61% on the day, valuing the media and telecommunications giant at roughly $92.5 billion. High-profile NFL windows like season openers and Super Bowl rematches are key inventory for networks at a time when live sports remain the most reliable draw for both linear TV and streaming subscriber growth, making Peacock’s exclusive simulcast another test of the streaming-first sports strategy.

Fans can follow the game through NBC’s broadcast or Peacock’s stream, with live coverage, highlights and statistics available across major sports outlets throughout the night.

What to watch

• Viewership figures for the Wednesday opener and Peacock streaming numbers, which could inform how NBC schedules future NFL windows.
• Whether New England’s offensive line — porous in the Super Bowl loss, when Maye was sacked six times — shows improvement in the rematch.
• The outcome of Thursday’s Rams-49ers game in Melbourne, the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, with implications for the league’s international expansion plans.
• Early-season movement in betting lines and divisional standings across the AFC East and NFC West.

Source: original release.