When Does the NFL Season Start?

The National Football League season usually begins in September. This is when the Super Bowl is played.

Introduction

The National Football League regular season usually begins on the weekend following the Labor Day holiday. This date is typically in early September, but it can be as late as September 8.

What Factors Determine the Start of the Season?

The start of the NFL season is determined by a number of factors, including the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl, and the NFL Draft. The Super Bowl is typically held in February, while the Pro Bowl and NFL Draft are both held in April. The NFL season usually starts in September, but it can start as early as August if the Super Bowl is held in February.

The Super Bowl

The National Football League (NFL) season typically kicks off on the Thursday following the first Monday of September (i.e., either September 10 or September 17). This date is set by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with its players, which runs through the 2030 season.

However, there are a few exceptions. In 2008, for example, the season began on Thursday, September 4 because that year’s Labor Day fell on September 1. And in 2012, the season started on Wednesday, September 5 because Hurricane Isaac forced the rescheduling of that year’s opening-week game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.

Bye Weeks

A bye week is a week during the NFL season in which a particular team does not play. Each team has one bye week during the 17-week regular season schedule. The purpose of bye weeks is to give the players on each team a chance to rest and recover from injuries. In addition, bye weeks help to create a more balanced schedule by ensuring that each team plays an equal number of games over the course of the season.

While bye weeks are typically scheduled during the middle of the season, they can also be scheduled at other times, such as during Week 4 or Week 11. The NFL typically releases its regular season schedule in April, and the specific dates for each team’s bye week are usually announced along with the rest of the schedule.

Other Holidays

Other holidays can also cause the start of the season to be delayed. For example, if Labor Day falls on September 7 or later, the NFL season will start the following week.

How Does the NFL Season Start?

The NFL season starts the week after Labor Day in September. That’s when the regular season starts. The first game of the season is usually a Thursday night game, which is followed by the rest of the games on Sunday.

The Preseason

The National Football League preseason is the period each year during which NFL teams play several not-for-the-record exhibition games before the actual “regular” season starts. Beginning with the featured Pro Football Hall of Fame game in early August, five weekends of exhibition games are currently played in August and early September (with one team given a bye each week). The start of the preseason is intrinsically linked to the end of the previous season; the length of time between is roughly the same as an NFL player’s average career.

The Regular Season

The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins the week after Labor Day in early September and ends in December or early January. After a four-week preseason, during which each team plays four exhibition games, the regular season kicks off with a Thursday Night Football game, typically between two division rivals. The 17-week regular season schedule is balanced so that each team plays every other team in their own conference twice (home and away) and every team in the other conference once.

Conclusion

The NFL regular season usually starts the week after Labor Day. This is because the NFL wants to avoid competing with college football. The regular season consists of 16 games, and each team plays one game per week. The season starts in early September and ends in late December or early January.