Seattle beat New England 13-10 at Lumen Field on 9 September 2026, a Super Bowl rematch decided by a fourth-quarter comeback.
Resolved 10 Sep 2026
How this resolves
The market resolves on the official final score on nfl.com, published at the final whistle (early hours of 10 September UK time). It resolves YES if Seattle has more points than New England; a tie resolves NO. If that source has not published in time, BBC Sport and the Guardian match reports settle it.
The pattern behind it
5 of 8
Five of the last eight kickoff games in which the defending champion played were won by the champion: the Eagles in 2018 and 2025, the Chiefs in 2020 and 2024, the Buccaneers in 2021. The three defeats were the Patriots in 2017, the Rams in 2022 and the Chiefs in 2023. In the full record since 2004 the champion has won 16 of 21; the other two defeats were the Giants in 2012 and the Ravens in 2013, the only champion to open away. The 2019 opener had no champion in it.
We looked at every NFL season opener since 2004 in which the defending champion played, using the league's own records. The champion won 16 of the 21 games. The last eight are shown below, newest first.
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