National Football League

NFL will kick off season Sept. 5

Published Feb. 28, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

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Powerful as the NFL is, it's making way for President Barack Obama.

Opting to play a game on a Wednesday for the first time in more than 60 years, the NFL will open the regular season on Sept. 5, to avoid conflicting with Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention the next night.

The Super Bowl champion New York Giants will host the Wednesday night season-opener starting at 8:30 p.m. EDT; their opponent hasn't been announced yet.

According to the league, it hasn't played a game on a Wednesday since Sept. 22, 1948, when the Rams faced the Lions.

The NFL regular season has started on a Thursday since 2002.

This year's change was announced by the league on Tuesday.

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