Why the NFL is playing its first opening game on Friday since 1970

Already the most popular and valuable sports league in the United States, the NFL has taken steps in recent years to extend its dominance even further. The league has expanded internationally, added games on holidays, signed deals with new broadcast partners and attempted to make the sport ubiquitous.

With the 2024 season kicking off this weekend, no game is as impressive as the one between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It will be the first NFL game in South America. It will air on Peacock, NBC's streaming service, rather than a broadcast network. And it will be the NFL's first opening game on a Friday since 1970.

The NFL has had weekly games on Thursday and Monday nights for years, as well as a full schedule on Sunday afternoons and evenings. But due to an obscure rule, the league has largely done away with Friday and Saturday games.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 granted the NFL and other leagues an antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The law states that no professional football games can be played on Friday nights after 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from the second weekend in September through the second weekend in December. The law applies to any professional game played within 75 miles of a high school or college football game that takes place on the same weekend.

Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president of club business, international and league events, said the league normally wants to open its season with a Thursday night game the week of Labor Day, which is usually the second weekend of September. However, with Labor Day falling on Sept. 2 this year, the league was able to host a Friday night game since it was technically the first weekend of the month.

“The stars aligned this year,” O'Reilly said.

Next year, the NFL could also have a Friday game on its opening weekend because Labor Day falls on Sept. 1. O'Reilly said the league has not yet decided whether there will be another Friday game in September 2025.

However, considering how the league is trying to infiltrate the calendar, it wouldn't be surprising if a year from now there was a Friday game again. The NFL is billing the beginning of this year as “the greatest kickoff weekend ever,” which begins with the Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens game on Thursday night and ends with the New York Jets-San Francisco 49ers game on Monday night.

The NFL will have another Friday game this year when the Las Vegas Raiders face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Nov. 29, the day after Thanksgiving. The day is commonly referred to as “Black Friday” and is a popular shopping day. The league had its first “Black Friday” game last year, which, like this year, aired on Amazon Prime and kicked off at 3 p.m., which could potentially be to appease the Sports Broadcasting Act, which requires Friday games to start no later than 6 p.m.

The NFL will also have at least one Friday game on Christmas Day in 2026 as part of its deal with Netflix. This year, Netflix will broadcast two Christmas games. The streaming service will also have at least one game on Christmas Day in 2025 (on a Thursday) and 2026 (on a Friday).

The NFL will largely forego Friday nights this fall, but as it did with the Eagles-Packers game in Brazil and the Black Friday and Christmas games, the league will look to expand its reach when possible and appropriate to generate revenue and give an NFL-obsessed fan base another day to watch the country's most popular sport.