The 2024 schedule isn’t out yet, but we already know quite a few things about this year’s slate of games
• 3 min read
With the NFL Draft officially in the rearview mirror, there’s only one big event left on the NFL’s offseason calendar and that’s the release of the schedule. The only problem with this year’s release is that no one seems to have any idea when the schedule is actually going to come out.
Well, that was a problem, but it’s not anymore, thanks to the Sports Business Journal. According to the SBJ, the NFL has informed teams that the schedule will be released on Wednesday, May 15, which will make it the latest schedule release since at least 1990.
For the past two years, the schedule has been released on the second Thursday in May, but the NFL decided to push that date back this year. The league hasn’t offered any explanation on why the schedule release was pushed back so far this year.
Although we won’t know the full schedule until May 15, you won’t have to wait that long to get every nugget of information and that’s because we already know several things about the 2024 schedule and we’re going to cover those below.
- Thursday night opener in Kansas City. The defending Super Bowl champion annually plays host in the opening game of the season, which means that barring something unforeseen, the Chiefs will be the home team in the Thursday night opener. Their home schedule consists of the Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Ravens, Bengals, Texans, Saints and Buccaneers, so the NFL will have plenty of juicy games to choose from, including a possible AFC title game rematch with Baltimore. The Bengals and Texans would also qualify as attractive options. The NFL generally tries to avoid putting divisional games in the opener, so the Chargers, Raiders and Broncos likely won’t be playing in Kansas City in Week 1.
- NFL set to play in Brazil for the first time. Sao Paulo will be hosting the NFL’s first-ever game in Brazil and that will be coming in Week 1. The Eagles will be “hosting” the Packers in a rare Friday game that will stream exclusively on Peacock on Sept. 6.
- International series will also feature games in London and Munich. The NFL will be playing four games in Europe this year with three games in London and one game in Germany. For the slate of games in England, the Bears, Vikings and Jaguars will each serve as the home team in one game. As for the game in Germany, the Panthers will serve as the home team for the NFL’s second regular-season game ever in Munich.
- Jaguars could be going back-to-back in London for the second straight season. According to Jacksonville.com, the Jags are expected to play back-to-back games in London for the second straight season. The Jags will host one game and then serve as the visiting team in one game, which will likely come against the Bears.
- Christmas doubleheader that will make history. For just the third time in 75 years, the NFL will be playing on a Wednesday and that will be happening this year because Dec. 25 falls on a Wednesday in 2024. So yup, that means the NFL will be giving us a doubleheader on Christmas.
- Teams could be given two short-week games. The NFL owners approved a rule in March 2023 that now allows teams to play two short-week games. This means that several teams could end up playing multiple games this year on just three days rest. This will make it much easier to schedule the two Christmas games. The four teams playing on Dec. 25 are expected to play on the prior Saturday.
- Every home-and-away opponent for all 32 teams. Although we don’t know the time and dates for any game yet this year, we do know who each team will be playing and you can check out the home-and-away opponents for all 32 teams by clicking here.
The NFL schedule release has become a major offseason event for the league and this year should be no exception.