The 2026 NFL season kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 9, when the defending champion Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl. Seattle opened as a 3.5-point home favorite in what oddsmakers see as one of the tightest openers in years.
Thursday brings the league’s first regular-season game in Australia, with the Los Angeles Rams traveling to Melbourne to face divisional rival San Francisco. Aaron Donald’s return from a two-and-a-half-year retirement has already moved futures markets, and the Rams have shortened from around -2.5 to as much as -3.5 against the 49ers as bettors load up on the reunited defensive front.
The bulk of Week 1 is played Sunday, Sept. 13, with several marquee divisional matchups on tap. Dallas heads to New York to face the Giants in a Sunday night showdown, with the Cowboys favored by roughly 2.5 points and the total sitting near 48.5 — a number that reflects confidence in an improved Cowboys defense that ranked fifth in the league in efficiency last season. Washington travels to Philadelphia, where the Eagles have consistently priced as home favorites of around five points.
Monday night closes the week with an AFC West clash in Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes returns from a torn ACL to face Denver. The Broncos, who won the division last season, are still catching moderate action given uncertainty over how sharp Mahomes will look in his first game back.
For bettors tracking line movement, the general rule holds early in the week: numbers move fastest on games involving a marquee injury return or international travel, and slower on divisional games where public perception is already priced in. With legal sportsbooks live in more states than ever, and prediction markets offering an added layer of NFL contracts, kickoff week gives bettors more legal ways to get involved than any previous season opener.
Whichever way the market moves between now and Wednesday, one thing looks certain: this is shaping up to be one of the most heavily bet opening weeks in NFL history.
