When rumors began to circulate that the NFL wanted a Super Bowl LX rematch to kick off the 2026 season, Patriots and Seahawks fans shared mixed reactions, mainly because it was the first time the league had made that the season opener in several years.
That feeling worsened the second the schedules were released, and it meant that game would happen on a Wednesday for the first time in league history, instead of the first Thursday Night game of the year.
Because Roger Goodell is dead set on making the NFL a more global brand, the Thursday game would instead be the first time a football game is played in Australia, so the Patriots got bumped up a day. And based on the immediate results of the game, it's fair to assume it won't happen again.
After all, the NFL is all about making as much money as possible, so seeing that their season opener failed to accomplish that and then some will surely change the Commissioner's mind about ever starting another new season on a random day of the week.
The decline in viewership is the biggest part of it all: the game wasn't only the lowest-watched opener since 2022, but it also fell 12% from last year, from 28.3 million viewers to 25.1 million this year.
Surely, that means we won't ever see another Wednesday night kickoff again, which is great news for the Patriots and the 31 other teams.
The NFL learned a big lesson from the Patriots vs. Seahawks season opener
Although it wasn't a game that most fans were hoping to see in Week 1, the Patriots having a Super Bowl rematch against the Seahawks to kick off the 2026 season wasn't totally unexpected, given how the league likes to build up hype around popular teams, particularly ones dealing with controversy that would inevitably create a lot of headlines (i.e., Mike Vrabel and the Patriots).
However, deciding that the game should take place on a Wednesday never made a lot of sense, and they very easily could have featured it in a primetime spot on another night, preferably Sunday or Monday to get the most eyes on the game, especially if they were locked in for a Thursday night game in Australia.
That would've drawn much more viewership, having the game on at a normal time when football fans are ready to watch. But because they're trying to test new things and make more money, Goodell made the mistake of testing out Wednesday Night Football.
Based on the immediate results, it doesn't seem like it will happen again, and, unfortunately, the Patriots and Seahawks were part of a failed experiment.
The Seahawks are lucky that they got the win, of course, while the Patriots probably could've used a bit more time to prepare and maybe could have played a better game and avoided some injuries, even if that's delusional optimism speaking in hindsight.
We'll never know what could have been, of course, but we can probably say with a lot of confidence that we won't see another Wednesday night game any time soon, and although there's not much good to take away from the Patriots' disappointing game, that's a small hint of a silver lining that could become more significant in the seasons ahead.
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