NFL Exec Mike North on Scheduling Seahawks-Pats Super Bowl Rematch in Week 1

The 2026 NFL season opens with last year's Super Bowl rematch. Seahawks-Patriots. Week 1.

NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North came on the show to walk through the math.

"Those are two teams that played in the Super Bowl," North said. "They're obviously good teams. They've earned it. I recognize the off-field drama, but we're focused on the field."

The window for a rematch to feel like a rematch is narrow. North said it loses its meaning quickly.

"Once you get to like week six, seven, eight, nobody's looking back at February," North said. "Everybody's looking forward to this February. So if you're going to take advantage of the fact that it's a Super Bowl rematch, it's got to be kind of early."

The proof point he reached for was last year's Philly-Kansas City rematch in Week 2.

"It did like 32 million viewers on a Sunday afternoon on Fox," North said.

He flagged that the league had multiple credible openers to choose from.

"There were other good options," North said. "The Giants would have worked. Chicago would have worked. Kansas City would have been interesting if we knew for certain Mahomes was coming back. There were plenty of good options, but no hesitation to pick up with a Super Bowl rematch."

His verdict on the slot was firm.

"It's a game that's going to mean a lot in week one, and probably never more so than in week one," North said.

Rich asked North to walk through the Disney year. The Super Bowl on ESPN. The full Disney promotional machine pointed at it.

North's answer started with the scale of that machine.

"They bring a promotional machinery that nobody else brings," North said. "When you think about all the television programming and also all the Disney assets, whether it's Mickey and Minnie, or it's now what, the Simpsons, Star Wars, whatever else they have, they have already started, as you guys know, banging the drum. It's going to be the biggest Super Bowl ever."

The Monday Night Football slate, in his read, reflects the upgrade.

"When you take away those Monday night side-by-sides, now they've got this opportunity to take some of those Monday night games on ESPN and simulcast them on ABC," North said. "So now you're talking about two broadcast homes between ESPN and ABC. Those numbers are going to be significant."

His example was the slot game.

"You take a game like Dallas-Philly, arguably a top two, top three game of the season, and put it on Monday Night Football simulcast on ABC," North said. "That's a message. That's a signal. And they deserve it. They earn it."

North made sure the back-half of the calendar got mentioned.

"Don't forget that they've got a wild card game, a divisional game," North said. "They're in this from day one till the very end."

He closed on a piece of the schedule fans should appreciate. The Super Bowl falls on Presidents Day weekend this year.

"Nobody's going to work on Monday," North said. "Nobody's going to school. We've got a nice three-day weekend for the Super Bowl. Call it a national holiday like it deserves."