The National Football League (NFL) captivates millions of viewers each week, with Sunday Night Football being a highly anticipated event. Knowing “What Time Is Sunday Night Football” is crucial for fans who don’t want to miss a single snap. Let’s dive into the details of NFL primetime scheduling.
The NFL’s broadcast partners, including CBS, Fox, NBC, NFL Network, ESPN, and Prime Video, strategically select the most compelling matchups each week to air on their networks, aiming to maximize viewership.
Marquee matchups frequently land in the coveted primetime slots: Thursday, Sunday, or Monday nights, as well as the late Sunday afternoon game. The league traditionally features the Super Bowl champion at home for the Thursday night season opener.
This season includes some scheduling innovations. In Week 16, two Saturday games will air, one on NBC at 1:00 p.m. ET and another on FOX at 4:30 p.m. ET. Notably, the teams playing on that Saturday will also compete on Christmas Day, December 25, in games broadcasted on Netflix, marking their entry into live NFL game coverage.
Week 17 will showcase three of five designated matchups on Saturday, with the remaining games on Sunday. The exact dates and kickoff times for these Week 17 games will be announced later in the season. Similarly, Week 18 will feature two Saturday games and the rest on Sunday. Details regarding dates, times, and broadcast networks for Week 18 will be finalized after Week 17 concludes.
Most NFL games take place on Sunday afternoons. Early games commence at 1:00 p.m. ET, while late games kick off at either 4:05 p.m. ET or 4:25 p.m. ET, depending on whether the network is airing a doubleheader.
CBS and FOX broadcast Sunday afternoon games. For the second consecutive year, network assignments are not predetermined based on the conference affiliation of the teams. This gives the NFL greater flexibility in structuring Sunday afternoon broadcasts across both CBS and FOX.
Both CBS and FOX will feature doubleheader broadcasts, and every market will have the opportunity to watch four Sunday afternoon games in Weeks 15 and 18. Throughout Weeks 1–14 and 16-17, FOX and CBS will each broadcast eight doubleheaders. During these weeks, one network will present games in both Sunday afternoon time slots, while the other will broadcast only one game in either of the two time slots. Doubleheader weeks typically alternate between the two networks, but this is not always the case. It is possible for a network to broadcast doubleheaders in consecutive weeks, but not for three weeks in a row.
So, to answer the question, “what time is Sunday Night Football?” The typical kickoff time is 8:20 PM Eastern Time on NBC. Be sure to check your local listings for any changes.
