Seahawks almost didn't play in NFL's season kickoff game

The NFL acknowledged Friday there was no guarantee the Seahawks would host the first game of the 2026 season, an honor generally given to the defending Super Bowl champion.

The reason it might not have happened was the complication of the league playing its first regular-season game in Australia between the Rams and 49ers in Melbourne, also set for the first week of the season.

"We have flexibility certainly with how and what window we put the Super Bowl champ in that first weekend, said Hans Schroeder, the league's executive vice president of media distribution in a conference call Friday to discuss the making of the 2026 regular-season schedule a day after it was unveiled.

Consideration was made to putting the Rams-49ers game on a Wednesday night in the United States, Thursday morning in Australia - a day before the Seahawks would have played - so that each team would have additional time to get back and recover before Week 2.

But the knowledge that because of the time difference the Rams and 49ers could get back on Friday helped tip the decision to move the Seahawks' game to Wednesday and mean they would still host the NFL's season opener.

"With the ability to travel back from Australia and get back on the same day for the teams we thought just all worked together," Schroeder said. "So we loved the idea of celebrating Seattle on the opening game of the year."

Another complication is that the NFL could not play a game on that Friday because of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. That law restricts broadcasting on Fridays and Saturdays if high school or college games are being played within 75 miles of the broadcasting station beginning the second Friday in September.

That's what forced the NFL to move the Seahawks game to Wednesday, the first time the season kickoff game is on a Wednesday since 2012 when it was moved so as not to conflict with a speech by President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

It will be just the fifth NFL game played on a Wednesday since 1950.

"We don't have to do this," Schroeder said of having the Super Bowl champ host the season opener the following year, though the league has done so all but two years since 2004.

"But we like the idea of really celebrating the Seahawks, giving them a moment to start this year to celebrate (the Super Bowl win) last year."

Once the date was determined - the NFL announced in March that the Seahawks would open at home on a Wednesday to begin the regular season - came the decision of which opposing team to send to Seattle.

Given the marquee nature of the game, most figured it would likely be one of four teams the Seahawks had on their schedule to come to Lumen this year - New England, whom the Seahawks beat in the Super Bowl; Chicago, expected to be a contender to win the NFC this season; Kansas City, the winner of the Super Bowl two years ago; or Dallas, always a big draw. The Rams and 49ers were out because of the Australia game.

As the announcement neared, many figured the choice was most likely to be Chicago. Dallas was eliminated when it was announced the Cowboys would play the Giants on the opening Monday night, and Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said in March his team would not play in the game because of uncertainty over the health of QB Patrick Mahomes.

Some figured the league might not pick the Patriots to avoid the specter that the game might again be a pretty easy Seattle win as it was in the Super Bowl, which the Seahawks won 29-13.

Some also wondered if the league would want to avoid any potential focus on the controversy surrounding New England coach Mike Vrabel and his alleged relationship with NFL reporter Dianna Russini as potentially distracting from the season-opening game.

Schroeder said the league felt the allure of the Super Bowl rematch overrode any concerns about the competitiveness of the game in February.

"The Super Bowl rematch is never going to be more relevant than in Week 1 and to sort of pick up this year where we ended off last year (and) having a really neat symmetry and connection to it," he said. "We really love that idea. We looked at a number of opponents for Seattle in that window but we think (the season opening) kickoff is a really big window - it's one of those places where we think we can continue to build the audience higher and just love the idea of opening the season where we left it last year with another chance for the Patriots with the Seahawks."

As for Vrabel's situation, Schroeder said: "We focused on the football game and the rematch of the Super Bowl, and that alone is an incredible story (and) that was our focus - how do we deliver the best game into the best window? And in this case it felt like that rematch is going to be the most exciting we could start it out of the box."

The Seahawks are set to host the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas night at Lumen Field to cap what will be a tripleheader of NFL games. It will be the first Christmas game in Seahawks history.

Until 2021 the league had generally tried to avoid Christmas Day games - there were only 22 in league history until that year.

But the league has played at least two games on Christmas every year since 2021 and NFL officials say TV ratings justify the NFL's decision to begin playing on that day and its continued commitment to it.

"It's a privilege, frankly, to play in those windows," said Mike North, the league's vice president, broadcasting planning, noting the high-profile nature of those games being in stand-alone windows on a holiday.

"You've earned it, and it's important, and our fans are there. Like we say, they are voting with their remotes (and) we owe it to them to give them the big games.

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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:01 PM.