NFL regular season

The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September, right after the Labor Day holiday, and ends in early January. After the regular season ends, the playoffs tournament starts. During the regular season, there are 272 games in total, with each of the NFL's 32 teams playing 17 games over an 18-week period. Each team also has one "bye" week when they don’t play a game.

Since 2012, the NFL usually has games scheduled in five different time slots each week. The first game of the week is played on Thursday night, starting at 8:15 pm ET, except for special games that start a bit later. Most games are played on Sunday, with many starting at 1 pm ET, and some later games beginning around 4:05 or 4:25 pm ET. There is also one Sunday night game every week at 8:20 pm ET, and one or two Monday night games starting at 8:15 pm ET. There are also special games on Thanksgiving Day and, since 2023, a game on Black Friday.

The current broadcasting agreement, which started in 2006, decides which networks show the games. Sunday afternoon games are shown on either CBS or Fox, depending on which conference the teams belong to—the American Football Conference on CBS and the National Football Conference on Fox. There are also three prime time games each week, including games on Thursday, Sunday night, and Monday night, shown on different networks like NBC, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, and ABC.

Game times

Main article: NFL on television

Most NFL games happen on Sundays. The early games start at 1:00 pm, with later games around 4:05 pm or 4:25 pm, depending on the time zone. These games are shown on Fox or CBS, depending on which teams are playing.

There are also special games at other times:

1. One game every Sunday night, called Sunday Night Football, shown on NBC.
2. One game most Mondays, called Monday Night Football, shown on ESPN or ABC.
3. Games on Thursday nights, including special games on Thanksgiving and the opening game of the season.
4. Some games in later seasons are played on Saturdays.

The NFL sometimes moves Sunday games to Sunday night to show them to a bigger audience.

History

In the early years of the NFL, teams didn’t follow a fixed schedule and played anywhere from one to sixteen games each season. By the late 1940s, each team played twelve games. When the American Football League started in 1960, it had each team play fourteen games over fifteen weeks, with one week off. This new way of scheduling pushed the NFL to grow and also start playing fourteen games each season in 1961.

In 1961, the U.S. Congress passed a law to help the NFL sell television rights for its games while making sure they didn’t compete with high school and college games. Because high school and college games are usually on Fridays and Saturdays, the NFL can’t play games on those days until mid-December.

From 1961 to 1977, the NFL played fourteen games over fourteen weeks, usually starting after Labor Day. In 1978, the season grew to sixteen games over sixteen weeks. In 1990, each team got a week off during the season, so the regular season became seventeen weeks long. Since 2002, the NFL has started its season with a special game on the Thursday night after Labor Day.

Current scheduling formula

The NFL uses a set plan to decide which teams play each other during the regular season. Each team plays 17 games and has one week off.

Teams play two games against each of the three other teams in their own division — one home and one away. They also play one game against each team in a specific division in their conference, based on a three-year rotation. Teams face one team from each of the other two divisions in their conference that finished in the same place as them the year before. They also play one game against each team in a specific division in the other conference, based on a four-year rotation. Finally, each team plays an extra game against a team from a division they played two years earlier, based on how they finished the previous season.

This way, every team in the conference plays every other team at least once every three years, and teams in different conferences play each other at least once every four years. The plan also tries to make sure teams don’t play too many home or away games in a row and ends the season with only division games in the last week.

Past formulas

Between (/wiki/1970_NFL_season) and (/wiki/2002_NFL_season), the league used different ways to plan games, changing with the number of teams and divisions.

From 1995 to 1998, the league had six divisions with five teams each. During this time, each team played every other team in their own division twice. They also played two teams from each of the other divisions in their conference, based on where teams finished in the standings. Finally, they played four teams from one division in the other conference, following a set rotation.

Before 2021, each team played 16 games in a season. But in (/wiki/2021_NFL_season), the league agreed to let teams play 17 games instead. Each team's extra game is against an opponent from another conference that they didn’t used to play. The team owners want to play even more games someday, but for now, teams can only play 17 games each year.

Scheduled division matchups

This chart shows how NFL teams are scheduled to play against each other based on rules that have been used since 2002, with an extra game added since 2021.

Each year, teams in a division play one game against all teams in two other divisions — one from the AFC and one from the NFC. Plus, each division has one extra game against a team from a division they played two years ago.

Regular season games played outside the U.S.

Main articles: NFL International Series, Fútbol Americano, and Bills Toronto Series

Some NFL games are played outside the United States. The first one was in 2005, when the Arizona Cardinals played against the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City.

Starting in 2007, the NFL began holding games in London. Teams like the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, and others have played there. The plan was for each team to play in international games over many years. The Jacksonville Jaguars have played several home games in London, and other teams have done the same.

The Buffalo Bills also played games in Toronto for several years, but stopped after facing low attendance and other issues. Now, each NFL team will host an international game at least once every eight years.

Disruptions of the schedule

See also: List of canceled and rescheduled NFL games and Temporary NFL home stadiums

Conflicts with other sports leagues and organizations

From the early days of the NFL, some teams shared stadiums with Major League Baseball teams. MLB teams had priority because of their leases, so NFL games sometimes had to be rescheduled. For example, in 1973, the New York Jets had to play many of their home games away because the Mets were in the World Series. As MLB teams moved to stadiums just for baseball, this problem decreased.

Since 2020, when the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, no NFL team shares a stadium with an MLB team. However, some NFL teams share places with Major League Soccer or college football teams.

Even though some NFL and MLB teams play in the same city, like in Cleveland, Denver, and Minneapolis, they sometimes don’t share parking lots. This means the Browns, Broncos, and Vikings can play home games on the same days as their MLB teams.

In 2013, the Baltimore Ravens had to start their season away from home because their city’s MLB team, the Baltimore Orioles, was playing at the same time.

The Seattle Seahawks’s MLB team, the Seattle Mariners, sometimes plays away, so there are no conflicts. The Buffalo Bills sometimes played at a stadium in Toronto, but this only happened before the regular season started.

Labor disputes

The 1982 NFL season and 1987 NFL season were shorter because of disputes about player pay. In 1982, several weeks were canceled, but the season was extended to fit in nine games. In 1987, one week was lost, and some games were played with temporary players.

Natural disasters

Games have sometimes been moved because of severe weather. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the New Orleans Saints played their home games in different cities. Hurricane Ida in 2021 also forced the Saints to move a game.

The Miami Dolphins have had games moved because of hurricanes many times, like Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.

In 2010, a heavy snowstorm caused the roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to collapse. The Minnesota Vikings had to play their last home games in other stadiums.

Other major news events

After the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the American Football League postponed games. The older National Football League played as planned but without television broadcasts.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Week 2 of the season was postponed. The games were played in January 2002, and the playoffs started later.

In 2020, the NFL prepared for possible delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The schedule was set up to allow games to be moved or canceled without losing important matches.