The NFL’s 2026 season schedule will be released in May. However, when exactly is still unclear. And apparently it could happen later than usual this year.
The NFL simply announced during the NFL Draft that the entire schedule for the upcoming NFL season will be released in May, as has been the case for many years. An exact date was left open.
However, there has recently been speculation that this will happen in the coming week, especially since this has mostly been the case recently – in the second week of May to be precise. Many saw May 13th – the night of May 14th according to European time – as the likely date. Although this could still be the case, a delay of another week also seems possible.
The NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, Mike North, recently commented on the podcast “It’s Always Game Day in Buffalo”: “Most fans know very well that the schedule comes out in mid-May now. That’s how we’ve done it for the last five or six years. That’s kind of our goal. Is there something magical about May 12th, 13th or 14th? No. Is there any real disadvantage to the 19th, 20th or May 21st? No.”
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Five games still to play
North continued: “I don’t think it’s coming out in June; while the second week of May has been our target for the last few years, I don’t see why it would be impossible to consider the third week of May as well.”
One reason for the delay could be the five games that were dropped from the previous ESPN rights package this year as a result of ESPN’s takeover of the NFL Network and are now possibly to be sold to a streaming service in an extra package. “These five games that are currently being negotiated as a package – I would love to know when and where these games will be played so we can plan them accordingly.”
North also emphasized that special developments during the draft could influence planning. And that the game plan is only final once Commissioner Roger Goodell has approved it.
All we know so far is that the Seattle Seahawks will open the 2026 season at home on September 9th (local time). This is a Wednesday because the first NFL game will take place in Melbourne between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers on the following Thursday. The league also announced that the Baltimore Ravens will face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 (September 27, 10:25 p.m. CEST) at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
