Here's everything you need to know about the NFL season, including how the conferences work and the path to the Super Bowl.
The NFL is the most popular and prestigious American football competition in the world. Each year, 32 teams compete for a chance to earn the coveted championship title, decided by the blockbuster Super Bowl game. But, before we get there, how does the NFL season work?
Reading on, we’ll discuss the NFL league structure for the regular season, before explaining the NFL playoffs in simple terms. Ready to learn about the ins-and-outs of the league? Here’s our guide to how the NFL works!
When are NFL games played?
The NFL regular season starts the week after Labor Day, which is celebrated on the first Monday of September in the United States.
The first game is played on a Thursday night, and is usually a home game for the defending Super Bowl champion. The remainder of the games are played on Sunday, except for one that is scheduled for Monday night.
Every subsequent week of the season follows this pattern – with one game on Thursday, one on Monday and the rest on Sunday – except for Thanksgiving weekend, which features three Thursday fixtures!
The NFL regular season is 18 weeks long, and, as of 2021, each team plays 17 games. This means that each franchise enjoys a bye week, which is pre-determined to sit somewhere between weeks 6 and 14.
When does the 2025 NFL season start?
The first game of the 2025 NFL season will take place on Thursday 4th September (Friday 01:20am in the UK) when the defending Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, take on their long-time rivals, the Dallas Cowboys.
How does the NFL schedule work?
The first major event of the NFL calendar is the draft, where teams take turns choosing the top players in collegiate football to join their ranks. Once drafting is finished, the teams start to train and prepare for their preseason games (ahead of the new season, see which NFL teams draft the best!).
When the regular season starts, the 32 NFL teams are split into two conferences: the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. These were formed when the NFL merged with the American Football League in 1970. Each conference is made up of 16 teams, split into four divisions of four teams each – the North, South, East and West.
Every team in the NFL plays its three division rivals two times each in the regular season: For example, the Chiefs – who are 7/1 in the NFL betting odds to win the Super Bowl – play six games against their fellow AFC West teams: the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and Los Angeles Chargers.
The rest of a team’s 17-game regular-season schedule is made up of six other opponents from inside its own conference, and four teams from outside of its conference.
How do the NFL playoffs work?
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL playoffs are made up of 14 teams – seven from each conference. That includes the eight division winners, plus six wild cards: the three best teams from each conference who failed to win their division.
The teams in each conference are seeded from one to seven based on their regular season records, with the first seed in each conference given a first-round bye.
The first round of the playoffs is known as the Wild Card round. It features three division winners from each conference playing against the wild card teams (so 6 games and 12 teams in total).
The next round is the Divisional round, where the top seed (which received a bye) in each conference plays the lowest-seeded winning team from the Wild Card round, and the other two winning teams from the Wild Card round face each other. This round features four games.
The four winning teams from the Divisional round advance to the Conference Championships and play for a place in the Super Bowl. For example, below was the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024/25 route to championship glory via the playoffs:
Wild Card Playoff | Score | Divisional Playoff | Score | Conference Playoff | Score | Super Bowl | Score |
Green Bay Packers | 10 | LA Rams | 22 | Washington Commanders | 23 | Kansas City Chiefs | 22 |
Philadelphia Eagles | 22 | Philadelphia Eagles | 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | 55 | Philadelphia Eagles | 40 |
What is the Super Bowl?
The AFC and NFC champions meet in the NFL’s grand finale – the Super Bowl. It is the biggest night on the American sporting calendar, with Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 earning an average viewership of over 120m in the United States.
While all of the other major American sports championships are decided over a series of games, the Super Bowl is a one-off fixture, which certainly contributes to its popularity.
The game has gained enormous popularity among casual fans thanks to its famous halftime show – which has seen the likes of Rihanna, the Weeknd, and Usher perform in recent years – and its adverts, which are a cultural phenomenon in the US.
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The 2024-25 postseason kicked off with the Wild Card Weekend on 11-13 January 2025. The Divisional round took place on 18-19 January, and the Conference Championship round on 26 January. Next come the Pro Bowl Games – a series of All-Star events featuring players voted for by fans, culminating in a non-contact flag football game on 2 February.
Finally, Super Bowl LIX was played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on 9 February.
What does the schedule for an NFL season look like?
Looking for a quick breakdown of all the key dates in the NFL calendar? Here’s the 2025 NFL structure explained in simple terms:
NFL draft: Friday 26 April 2025
NFL preseason starts: Friday 1 July 2025
NFL preseason ends: Sunday 26 August 2025
Regular season starts: Friday 5 September 2025
Regular season ends: Sunday 4 January 2025
Wild card round: Sunday 11 – Monday 12 January 2026
Divisional round: Sunday 18 – Monday 19 January 2026
Conference championships: Monday 26 January 2026
Super Bowl: Monday 9 February 2026
(all dates are correct in GMT)
Still looking to learn more about NFL betting? You can read our complete guide to the Super Bowl, or learn about the competitors with our list of the most improved teams and players.
Alternatively, stay ahead of the game with the Betway Sports app! Download it now from the Play Store or the App Store to enjoy live betting, real-time updates, and exclusive offers right at your fingertips.
