The National Football League has confirmed that the 2025 regular season will kick off with a marquee matchup between the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, and their longtime division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. The game will take place Thursday night, September 4, at Lincoln Financial Field and will be broadcast nationally on NBC.

The announcement was made Monday on NBC’s TODAY Show, as part of the league’s coordinated rollout of select games ahead of the full schedule release, which is set for Wednesday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET. According to NFL.com, the entire 2025 schedule will be unveiled across platforms including NFL Network, the NFL app, and NFL+.

However, the choice of opponent has stirred controversy among fans. As reported by Marca, many took to social media to criticize the decision to pit the Eagles against a Cowboys team that underperformed last season, finishing with a 7-10 record and firing their head coach before the 2025 campaign. Among the reactions posted on X (formerly Twitter) were comments like, "I speak for everyone when I say we didn’t want this", "Tough start for the Cowboys", and "Super Bowl Champs vs. a 7-10 team."

Despite fan frustration, the NFL appears to be prioritizing star power and audience size. The Cowboys, one of the league’s most valuable franchises with a vast national following, consistently drive high ratings. As ESPN noted, the game will also mark Brian Schottenheimer’s debut as Dallas’ head coach and the regular-season return of quarterback Dak Prescott, who missed significant time last year due to injury.

This will be the first time since 2000 that the Eagles and Cowboys meet in a Week 1 game. According to ESPN Research, none of the 19 players drafted by either team this year were alive during that previous opening clash. Philadelphia won both of their 2024 matchups against Dallas, including a hard-fought 28-23 home victory in November.

The NFL has opened the season with a Thursday night game since 2002, usually featuring the defending Super Bowl champions as hosts. This year’s choice continues that tradition, as the Eagles become the 20th champion to play in the league’s opener since 2004.

Beyond the season opener, the league will reveal a global schedule that includes games in London, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin, and São Paulo. According to NFL.com, the International Games will be officially announced on Tuesday, May 13 during Good Morning Football on NFL Network. The matchups feature teams like the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Los Angeles Chargers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ traditional appearance at Wembley Stadium.

The 2025 schedule release is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which helps the league process over a quadrillion possible schedule combinations. As noted by NFL.com, the process weighs more than 26,000 variables, including stadium availability, travel, divisional balance, and prime time matchups.

In addition to traditional broadcasters, streaming platforms will play a major role in 2025. ESPN reports that Peacock will exclusively stream a Saturday night game in Week 17 on December 27, with the teams to be announced later under the league’s flexible scheduling system.

While some fans may feel the Cowboys are an underwhelming pick to face the defending champs, the NFL continues to dominate the entertainment landscape. According to NFL.com, league broadcasts accounted for 90 of the top 100 most-watched U.S. telecasts in 2024 — a trend the league is eager to maintain heading into the new season.