The NFL's most ambitious season yet kicks off Wednesday with a Super Bowl rematch, a record-setting global schedule and a crowded field of contenders determined to dethrone the Seattle Seahawks.
Seven months after beating the New England Patriots to claim their second Super Bowl title, the Seahawks face the Patriots again Wednesday as they begin a 2026 campaign that will span seven countries across four continents.
Seattle's title defense will face a formidable challenge, with several contenders emerging across the league, including NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are seeking to repeat their 2022 Super Bowl triumph, this time with the league's championship game returning to their home stadium, SoFi Stadium, in February.
Los Angeles have made an aggressive push to strengthen their roster, adding star defensive end Myles Garrett to an already imposing unit and convincing former Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald to return from retirement.
Yet the Rams are just one of a clutch of teams with realistic title ambitions.
The Denver Broncos look well-placed to build on their promising 2025 campaign, when they finished with a 14-3 record but saw their playoff hopes derailed by an injury to quarterback Bo Nix.
The Broncos open their season with a blockbuster divisional clash against the Kansas City Chiefs, who will welcome the return of Patrick Mahomes after the quarterback suffered a season-ending knee injury in December last year.
Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to Super Bowl wins in 2020, 2023 and 2024, will resume his partnership with veteran tight end Travis Kelce, who could be playing in his farewell season following his offseason marriage to pop star Taylor Swift.
A slew of other teams will also have legitimate title aspirations, notably the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens.
One of the subplots of the season will see the NFL expand its global footprint as never before.
While the sport has been played outside the United States for decades, this season will break new ground with nine games played overseas.
The first of those fixtures will see the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday, the first NFL game to be staged in Australia.
The NFL's international roadshow will then roll into Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 27, when the Baltimore Ravens face the Dallas Cowboys at the iconic Maracana Stadium.
The now-traditional slate of games in London will be followed by the first NFL regular-season game in France on Oct. 25, when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France in Paris.
Other international games are scheduled to take place in Munich, Madrid and Mexico City.
The NFL's embrace of overseas markets is only set to increase in the years ahead.
The league has already voted to increase the number of games outside the United States to 10 in 2027, while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last month rekindled the age-old debate about the eventual establishment of an overseas franchise.
"At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA," Goodell said in remarks to German media.
"I have no doubt that this will happen one day."
Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president of club business and international and league events, said the league had based its international expansion on "fan data, fan engagement and strategic opportunity in the market."
"We look at where clubs are active and want to be," O'Reilly told reporters.
"That led us to Germany, then Brazil, then Spain, Ireland, France, now Australia, and then you've got a core set there.
"We look at what could be next. What are parts of the world where there are opportunities, there is fandom, there is strategic opportunity?
"And that's how we work with it internally and with the ownership committee to see where we go next."
