You know that feeling on a Sunday morning. You’ve got the wings prepped, the jersey on, and you flip to CBS or FOX only to realize you’re stuck watching two teams you couldn’t care less about. It’s a rite of passage for every football fan.
Understanding nfl tv maps week 1 is basically like trying to decode a secret government dossier, but it’s the most important thing you’ll do before kickoff.
Week 1 of the 2025-2026 season was particularly chaotic. Between a Friday night game in Brazil and Tom Brady making his regular-season broadcasting debut, the maps looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. If you were wondering why your neighbor in the next county over got the Steelers game while you were stuck with the Raiders, there’s actually a method to the madness.
The Chaos of the Week 1 Television Windows
The first Sunday of the season is unique because the networks are trying to set the tone for the entire year. For 2025, the NFL gave us 12 games on Sunday afternoon. That’s a lot of moving parts.
CBS had the "doubleheader" rights for Week 1, meaning they could show games in both the early 1:00 PM ET slot and the late 4:25 PM ET slot. FOX, meanwhile, was restricted to just one game—either early or late, depending on where you live. This is usually the first thing that confuses people. You’ll see two games listed on one channel and only one on the other. It's not a glitch; it's just the way the contracts are written.
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The Tom Brady Factor on FOX
Usually, the 1:00 PM games are a regional toss-up, but FOX had a massive carrot to dangled in 2025: Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady. They were calling the Giants vs. Commanders game.
Because of the "Brady Hype," FOX pushed that game to a huge chunk of the country. Even if you weren't in New York or D.C., there was a high probability your local FOX affiliate grabbed that feed. It was a ratings play, plain and simple.
On the other hand, if you lived in the South, you likely saw the Buccaneers and Falcons. The "local interest" rule almost always overrides the "star power" rule. If a home team is playing, the local affiliate is essentially obligated to show that game.
Breaking Down the CBS Coverage Split
CBS had a massive headache trying to distribute their games because they had two legitimate "A-list" matchups in the late window.
- Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers: This was the "Game of the Week" for most of the country. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo were on the call. If you lived anywhere in the Midwest, North, or even the West Coast, this is likely what you saw at 4:25 PM.
- Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams: This was the secondary late game. Kevin Harlan (the GOAT of play-by-play, let’s be honest) called this one. It mostly stayed in Texas and the Southern California markets.
The early window for CBS was even more fragmented. You had the Steelers at Jets, which took up almost the entire Northeast and parts of the Midwest. Then you had the Dolphins at Colts, which was mostly restricted to Florida and Indiana.
It’s interesting to see how the "Aaron Rodgers effect" still lingers. Even with Rodgers on the Steelers in 2025, the New York market still had a massive interest in his games, which influenced the nfl tv maps week 1 for the entire tri-state area.
Why Geography Doesn't Always Make Sense
Sometimes you look at the map and see a random "island" of color. Like, why is a small town in Oregon watching the Raiders instead of the Seahawks?
Usually, it comes down to individual station managers or specific player ties. In 2025, the Raiders vs. Patriots game (Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta) had surprising reach. This happened because several markets in the Pacific Northwest shifted away from the "standard" feed to follow specific storylines or simply because the local affiliate thought it would draw better numbers than a blowout.
The 506 Sports Legend
If you aren't checking 506 Sports every Wednesday, you’re doing it wrong. That site is the gold standard for these maps. They track the "updates" that happen throughout the week. For example, in Week 1 of 2025, markets like Nashville and Knoxville actually got switched from the Dolphins-Colts game to the Steelers-Jets game at the last minute.
Why? Usually, it's because the "secondary" team in that market has a larger fan base. In Tennessee, there are a ton of Steelers fans. The station knows that. They’d rather show a game people will actually watch than stick to a geographic proximity that nobody cares about.
National Broadcasts You Couldn't Miss
While the Sunday afternoon maps are a jigsaw puzzle, the "National" games are the easy part. These are the ones where everyone sees the same thing.
- Thursday Night: Dallas at Philadelphia (NBC). A massive rivalry to start the year.
- Friday Night: Kansas City vs. LA Chargers. This was the Brazil game. It was a YouTube exclusive, which honestly felt a bit weird, but that’s the future we’re living in.
- Sunday Night: Baltimore at Buffalo (NBC). Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson. Perfection.
- Monday Night: Minnesota at Chicago (ESPN/ABC). A classic NFC North battle to close it out.
How to Get the Game You Actually Want
If the nfl tv maps week 1 didn't go your way, you aren't totally out of luck.
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First, check if the game is being simulcast. In 2025, many CBS games were available on Paramount+, but only if they were the games airing in your local market. If you want a game outside your market, you’re basically looking at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.
Honestly, the move to YouTube TV has made it easier, but it’s still an investment. If you're a displaced fan—like a Browns fan living in Phoenix—the map is almost always going to let you down. You're going to see the Cardinals or whatever "big" game FOX decided to air that day.
Actionable Steps for the Next Slate
Don't wait until 12:55 PM on Sunday to find out what you're watching.
- Check the maps on Wednesday afternoon: This is when the finalized versions usually drop.
- Look for "Updates": Sometimes a station will switch games as late as Saturday if a major injury happens or if the "hype" for a different game becomes undeniable.
- Verify your streaming login: If you're using Paramount+ or the FOX Sports app, make sure your "Home Area" is set correctly, or you might get a black screen.
- Check the "Single" vs "Doubleheader" status: Remember that one network will always only have one game. If your team isn't on that specific window, you'll need a backup plan.
The maps are a bit of a headache, but they’re part of the ritual. Part of the fun is complaining about why your local station thinks you want to watch the Panthers when there's a divisional thriller happening elsewhere.
Next time you're looking at the colored blocks on the map, remember it's a mix of contract law, Nielsen ratings, and a station manager in a windowless room somewhere making a gut call.