Every May, the NFL announces its full regular-season programming slate. But what started as a straightforward information dump has evolved into what’s now referred to as the “creative Super Bowl,” where the social media teams behind each team in the league brainstorm the most original ways to announce when they’ll face their predetermined opponents. Below, Variety breaks down some of this year’s best.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts take over Springfield, announcing their 2026 schedule via a “Simpsons” short. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the NFL integrate with the show. During the 2024 season, as a continuation of Disney’s annual “Funday Football” broadcast, players from the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys were animated in “Simpsons” style, allowing fans to watch the game in real time, as though it were taking place in Springfield. In the Colts’ video, some of the show’s most iconic clips, each relevant to an opponent, were pulled and compiled to show off the 18-week slate.
Los Angeles Chargers
As reigning champs of the schedule release, the Chargers are behind arguably the strongest video of the year, shocking no one. Less than 24 hours after its release, their video, made entirely in the “Halo” video game, has racked up over 13 million views on X, the most popular video across all platforms by far. The Week 11 segment, when the Chargers are slated to play the New York Jets, featured (fake) chatter from “Halo” gamer LittleTimmyTim, who said “knicks bball >>> ballet + opera” and user XxBrunsonBurnerxX, saying “pls pls pls let me in sabrina” — shady references to Timothee Chalamet’s controversial comments on ballet and New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson reportedly being denied entry into Sabrina Carpenter’s Met Gala after-party.
Another fan-favorite moment was Week 17, when the Chargers are scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs. To announce the divisional matchup, the team references the viral TMZ exclusive report that Donna Kelce was renovating her home back in March. After a player infiltrates the home, they unlock the door to the basement, where four targets of Taylor Swift’s former feuds (including Scooter Braun and Charli XCX) are locked away in “the vault.”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Were you hoping that Baker Mayfield would be cast in the “Baywatch” reboot? Unfortunately he won’t be popping up, but he’ll happily spoof it. The quarterback, alongside comedian Bert Kreischer and Bucs offensive players Cody Mauch and Ko Kieft, defend Tampa Bay from the tourists who have arrived in support of their opponents as Jimi Jamison’s “I’m Always Here” plays in the background. The video concludes with Mayfield telling the trio, “Remember, we don’t just watch Tampa Bay. We are Tampa Bay,” to which Kreischer replies, “Can you fucking believe this guy?”
Denver Broncos
Peyton Manning displays a remarkable sense of self-awareness in a release video that pokes fun at the number of commercials he’s starred in over the years. A conversation between him and his daughter, Mosley, on the history of his videos evolves as he turns on the TV in search of something they can watch together. Their first option is a medical TV show titled “The Denn.” The patient? A male Steelers fan in his mid-30s, in critical condition following the ingestion of 40 pierogis. Manning begins paging through the channels, eventually commenting on how “jealous” he is that Broncos quarterback Bo Nix seems to be in every commercial. His daughter notes the irony.
The Seattle Seahawks are credited with creating the first release video back in 2016, where “ingredients” (like Arizona cactus, 49er gold, LA sand, and so on) are added to cupcake batter to ultimately reveal that season’s schedule. That lightheartedness quickly evolved into the NFL’s biggest off-field competition.
Recurring standouts include the aforementioned Los Angeles Charges, who won last year’s release by a landslide when they created a “Minecraft” universe that saw the team visiting their opponents in order, each scene with a storyline nodding to NFL culture (including a Giants fan haunted by the ghost of Saquon Barkley and a referee discreetly posted behind the Kansas City Chiefs).
Notably, this year’s league-wide schedule includes nine international games, up from last year’s seven, as the NFL continues to expand its global reach. Among those set to be played internationally are the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne (Sept. 10), the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro (Sept. 27) and the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in London (Oct. 11).
Week 18 marks the end of the regular season, and the playoffs will commence on Jan. 16, 2027. Super Bowl LXI will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Feb. 14, 2027.
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