Seattle Seahawks to open 2026 NFL season with rare Wednesday matchup


The Seattle Seahawks will start their Super Bowl title defense on Sept. 9 at Lumen Field in Seattle. File Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo
The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will open the 2026 NFL regular season on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in Seattle, the league announced.
The game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. EDT from Lumen Field and air on NBC and Peacock. The Seahawks’ opponent will be announced later this spring when the NFL reveals the full regular-season schedule.
The NFL also announced that the San Francisco 49ers will play the Los Angeles Rams in the first NFL regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia, at 8:35 p.m. EDT Sept. 10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
That game will be the first of a record nine international games played in 2026. Those matchups will be played across four continents in seven countries.
The NFL did not announce a broadcast partner for the 49ers-Rams matchup.
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (C) celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7 to win the World Series in Toronto on November 1, 2025. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo