NFL kickoff times are set in US Eastern time, and most schedules only print them that way. If you watch from anywhere else, the useful number is UTC, because that is what you add or subtract your own offset from. This post lists every regular time slot of the 2026 season in UTC, checked against the league's published schedule data, and explains why most of them move by an hour in November.
Why the slots move on November 1
The United States leaves daylight saving time on Sunday, November 1, 2026. Before that date, Eastern time is four hours behind UTC; after it, five hours. The NFL keeps its kickoffs at the same Eastern clock time all season, so in UTC every slot is one hour later from November 1 on.
The UK and most of Europe change their clocks a week earlier, on October 25, 2026. For viewers there, the last Sunday of October is the odd one out: kickoffs come an hour earlier on the local clock than the week before, and then go back to the usual local time once the US changes too.
Regular weekly slots
| Slot | UTC until October 31 | UTC from November 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday night | 00:15 (Friday) | 01:15 (Friday) |
| Sunday international game | 13:30 | 14:30 |
| Sunday early games | 17:00 | 18:00 |
| Sunday late games | 20:05 or 20:25 | 21:05 or 21:25 |
| Sunday night | 00:20 (Monday) | 01:20 (Monday) |
| Monday night | 00:15 (Tuesday) | 01:15 (Tuesday) |
Two examples from the schedule data. On Sunday, October 11, 2026, eight games kick off at 17:00 UTC, three late games at 20:05 or 20:25 UTC, one international game at 13:30 UTC and the Sunday night game at 00:20 UTC on October 12. On Sunday, November 8, 2026 the same pattern reads 14:30, 18:00, 21:05 and 21:25, and 01:20 on November 9.
The prime-time games that week follow the same shift. The Monday night game on October 12 (Buffalo at the Los Angeles Rams) is at 00:15 UTC, and the Thursday game on November 12 (Washington at the New York Giants) is at 01:15 UTC.
Why there are two late Sunday times
The late window has two kickoff times because the national broadcasters split it. A network carrying a single late game usually starts at 4:05 PM Eastern; the network with the doubleheader starts at 4:25 PM. In UTC that is the five or twenty-five past the hour you see in the table. If you follow one team, check which of the two it is, since twenty minutes is enough to miss the opening drive.
Holiday games
Thanksgiving, on Thursday, November 26, 2026, has three games: Chicago at Detroit at 18:00 UTC, Philadelphia at Dallas at 21:30 UTC, and Kansas City at Buffalo at 01:20 UTC on November 27. The next day, Denver plays at Pittsburgh at 20:00 UTC.
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, and it has three games as well: Green Bay at Chicago at 18:00 UTC, Buffalo at Denver at 21:30 UTC, and the Los Angeles Rams at Seattle at 01:15 UTC on December 26.
Late season and playoffs
From mid-December some games move to Saturdays, and the times for those are announced a few weeks ahead. Week 18 is different again. All 16 games of the final week are listed for the weekend of January 9 and 10, 2027, but the league sets their exact days and times only after Week 17, so that games with playoff places at stake can be put in the best slots. Expect a Saturday doubleheader and the rest on Sunday.
The playoffs then run over four weekends: Wild Card weekend from January 16, 2027, the Divisional Round, the Conference Championships and, after a week off, Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in February. Playoff kickoff times are announced week by week.
How Methstreams shows these times
You do not have to do any of this arithmetic on the NFL page. Each game is printed in UTC and converted to your device's own time as the page loads, with the weekday added when the game falls on a different day for you. The table above is for planning ahead, for checking a time a friend gave you in Eastern time, or for when you have scripts switched off and the page shows UTC as it is.
