2022 NFL Schedule Release: Time, Channel and How to Watch

This is one of the most exciting times of the year for NFL fans. The NFL will release the 2022 regular-season schedule on Thursday night, and fans will finally know when their teams will play their games this fall. NFL Network will host a show called Schedule Release ’22 starting at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can also find the schedule on NFL.com and the NFL app. ESPN 2 will also air its own primetime special surrounding the 2022 schedule on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. 

Fans will get a treat before the official schedule release. On Thursday at 6 p.m. ET all 32 teams will announce their first home game opponent. Following the announcement, the teams will be selling individual game tickets. It’s likely the Los Angeles Rams’ first home game will kickoff the 2022 season as they are the defending Super Bowl champions. 

Throughout the week, several key games have been announced. One of the bigger games revealed is the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 2 at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday Night Football. The NFL also announced a Christmas Day game that will air on CBS and Nickelodeon. 

Throughout the show on the NFL Network, several guests will appear including Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris and NFL vice president of broadcasting Mike North who revealed last month the NFL was going to play three games on Christmas Day. 

“Christmas, when it falls on an NFL game day, we’ve had a lot of success there, with all due respect to our friends at the NBA,” North said on the Sal Sports and Stuff podcast. “When we can play football on Christmas, it has proven to be something that our fans are interested in.”  North also talked about the last few times the NFL played on Christmas. We had Minnesota-New Orleans [in 2020], that game did 20 million viewers,” North said. “We had Cleveland-Green Bay last year, that game did 30 million viewers. It was followed by Indy-Arizona on NFL Network and that one performed well. Our fans are telling us — we know they watch on Thanksgiving — they’re happy to watch on Christmas. When we can, we’ll find games for windows on Christmas.”