Kickoff

The NFL opens with a Super Bowl rematch. Champions League starts tonight.

Patriots at Seahawks, Wednesday, 8:20 p.m. Eastern. Real Madrid and Inter at the Bernabéu this afternoon. Melbourne on Thursday.

The Rocket News · Sports · Seattle / MadridSeptember 8, 2026 · 4 min read

An empty stadium at dusk, floodlights coming on over a vacant field.

The NFL comes back Wednesday night with a Super Bowl rematch: New England at Seattle, 8:20 p.m. Eastern, Lumen Field, NBC. The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX, 29–13, on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara. NFL.com counted 212 days off. It is the league’s first Wednesday opener since 2012, and the first Week 1 Super Bowl rematch since Denver hosted Carolina in 2016. Seattle is a short favorite. The Sports desk files the kickoff, not the spread.

Thursday the league goes to Melbourne. San Francisco and the Rams play at the Cricket Ground, 8:35 p.m. Eastern on Netflix — Friday morning in Australia. A record nine international games this season. Week 1 then waits until Sunday. The country that spent Labor Day at $4.15 a gallon will spend Wednesday at a football game. That is the civic calendar.

After a 212-day break, the NFL officially returns on Wednesday night.

Video

Patriots have 'explosive potential' ahead of rematch vs. Seahawks | Fanta in 60 · NFL on NBC · Watch on NFL on NBC

Europe does not wait. Champions League league-phase Matchday 1 runs tonight through Thursday. Real Madrid and Inter kick off at the Bernabéu at 3 p.m. Eastern. Porto and Manchester City, Dortmund and Villarreal, share the same window. Barcelona and Feyenoord on Wednesday; Liverpool and Atlético, Napoli and Arsenal. The Sports desk files two clocks: a Super Bowl hangover in Seattle, and a European night that starts this afternoon.

Wire and further reading: nfl.com

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Jacob Misiorowski, number 32, delivers a pitch in a white Brewers uniform, right arm forward.

Baseball

Misiorowski is listed to start tonight.

The Associated Press card for Game 1 tonight in Milwaukee lists Jacob Misiorowski, 16 wins and 5 losses. The Rays’ starter is on the same card. He is not in this photograph, so he is not named here.

Jacob Misiorowski, number 32, delivers a pitch in a white Brewers uniform, right arm forward, left leg stretched toward the plate.

Baseball

Misiorowski's fastball leads Milwaukee into Friday.

The Associated Press says the Brewers right-hander, whose fastball is over 100 miles an hour, heads the staff for a Series that starts Friday night in Milwaukee. Neither club has won a title.

A Rays player in a gray road uniform shouts, mouth open, bright green gloves at his sides.

Baseball

Game 1 is Friday in Milwaukee.

The Rays open the World Series against the Brewers at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox, at American Family Field. Neither club has won a title. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers. Tampa Bay beat Cleveland in six.