If you've been waiting for the NFL schedule to be released, you won't have to wait much longer. The release date has officially been set for May 14 at 8 p.m. ET.
There had been some speculation that the release might be delayed, but that's not the case. The full slate of games will be released on Thursday.
Preview Events Leading Up to Release
The NFL will be offering a sneak peek at a few games on the schedule starting early next week.
The league's broadcast partners will each get to announce a game before the actual release of the schedule. In the past, these announcements have taken place on the day of each network's upfronts.
This year, the upfronts will be running from May 11 through May 13, so there will likely be at least one game announced on each of those days.
International Schedule Unveiling
The entire international schedule will be unveiled one day early. The NFL will be playing a record-setting nine international games in 2026, and all of those games will be revealed on May 13 at 9 a.m. ET on "Good Morning Football."
Full Schedule Release Details
The full schedule will be revealed at 8 p.m. ET on May 14 on NFL Network and ESPN2.
Although we won't have the full 272-game schedule in our hands until May 14, there are a few things we already know about this year's slate of games.
Two Games Already Set for Week 1
The NFL has already announced two games that will take place during the opening week of the season.
Wednesday, Sept. 9: TBA at Seahawks — 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
Thursday, Sept. 10: 49ers vs. Rams in Australia — 8:35 p.m. ET, Netflix
Note: The Seahawks game will mark just the second time over the past 75 years that the NFL will open its season on a Wednesday.
Since the Seahawks are the home team, they'll face either the Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Chiefs, Chargers or Patriots. However, it likely won't be Kansas City.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the league likely won't tab his team to play in the opener since it's not yet clear if Patrick Mahomes would be available for the Sept. 9 game. It also won't be the 49ers or Rams since they'll be playing in Australia.
Speaking of the game in Australia, that game won't technically be kicking off on Thursday night. Due to the 14-hour time difference, the game will kick off at 10:35 a.m. on FRIDAY in Melbourne, which will create an 8:35 p.m. ET kickoff on Thursday night in the United States.
The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground will be hosting the NFL's first game Down Under, which is expected to be available worldwide on Netflix.
Cowboys and Ravens to Face Each Other in Brazil
During the draft, the NFL revealed that the Ravens will be headed to Brazil to face the Cowboys this year. The league had announced in February that the Cowboys would be heading to Brazil for the NFL's first game in Rio de Janeiro, but at the time, we didn't know who the opponent would be.
The game between the Ravens and Cowboys will take place in Week 3 (Sept. 27) and will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS.
This will mark the third time that the NFL has held a game in Brazil, but the first two games were played in Sao Paulo. This time around, Rio's iconic Maracanã Stadium will serve as the host.
Nine International Games on the Schedule
There will be nine international games on the schedule this year, which is the most in NFL history.
We know the home teams involved for each game, but right now, the Australia game is the only matchup where we also know the visiting team.
Here's what the international schedule looks like so far:
- Melbourne — Rams vs. 49ers
- Rio de Janeiro — Cowboys vs. Ravens
- Mexico City — 49ers vs. TBA
- London — Jaguars vs. TBA (Wembley Stadium)
- London — Jaguars vs. TBA (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
- London — Commanders vs. TBA (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
- Madrid — Falcons vs. TBA