NFL moves 1st game to Wednesday to avoid Obama

Published: Feb 28, 2012 at 10:06 AM

NEW YORK (AP) - 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. EST; 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.

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.