The NFL begins the new season with its traditional start on Thursday.
Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks opens the season on Wednesday of the first week (September 9th), one day earlier than usual. The NFL announced this.
The reason is the international game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne. The game will be broadcast on Thursday evening in US prime time. The match in Australia is scheduled for Friday morning local time, which corresponds to Thursday evening in the USA.
In the past two years, the league has placed international games on the Friday after kickoff. This time, a start on Friday was out of the question. The background is a regulation of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which prohibits broadcasts of professional football on Fridays and Saturdays during a certain period of the season.
The duel in Melbourne is the first regular NFL game in Australia. The league is planning a total of nine international games in seven countries on four continents for the season. As in previous years, there will also be an NFL game in Germany: The Detroit Lions with German star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown are coming to Munich in the new season.
