NFL Schedule Is Here: Week 1 Betting Odds And Television Schedule, Top Storylines

The National Football League is one of the most popular sports in the world and its regular season games, playoff games, the Super Bowl and NFL Draft have turned into some of the most watched events of the year. The release of the NFL schedule on Thursday has thrust a sport that is still four months away from commencing into the spotlight.

What Happened: The 2023 NFL season will kick off on Sept. 7 with a primetime Thursday Night Football matchup. The next season will see its main television partners from last year providing coverage, with Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL added to the mix with the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket.

Games will be televised by CBS, a unit of Paramount Global PARAPARAA, Fox Corporation FOXFOXA unit Fox, Comcast Corporation CMCSA owned NBC, and by ESPN and ABC - units of The Walt Disney Company DIS.

Amazon.com Inc AMZN also has the rights to Thursday Night Football beginning in Week 2 and will air the first ever Black Friday Football game the day after Thanksgiving.

Here’s a look at the betting odds and the TV schedule for Week 1.

Betting Odds: Initial betting odds for Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season are out at sportsbooks, including DraftKings DKNG, which is used for the games below. TV coverage for Thursday, Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football are national, with the games listed with Fox and CBS subject to local networks for coverage.

Thursday, Sept. 7, 8:20 p.m. ET:

Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs -6.5, NBC/Peacock

Sunday, Sept. 10, 1 p.m. ET games:

Atlanta Falcons -1.5 at Carolina Panthers, Fox

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings -6, CBS

Cincinnati Bengals -2.5 at Cleveland Browns, CBS

Jacksonville Jaguars -3.5 at Indianapolis Colts, CBS

San Francisco 49ers -1.5 at Pittsburgh Steelers, Fox

Tennessee Titans at New Orleans Saints -3, CBS

Arizona Cardinals at Washington Commanders -4.5, Fox

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens -8, CBS

Sunday, Sept. 10, 4:25 p.m. ET games:

Philadelphia Eagles -3.5 at New England Patriots, CBS

Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos -3, CBS

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears -1, Fox

Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Chargers -1, CBS

Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks -3.5, Fox

Sunday, Sept. 10, 8:20 p.m. ET

Dallas Cowboys -2 at New York Giants, NBC

Monday, Sept. 11, 8:20 p.m. ET:

Buffalo Bills -1.5 at New York Jets, ESPN/ABC

Related Link: Exclusive: DraftKings CEO Says We're Seeing Really Strong Trends After Q1 Beat, Guidance Raise 

Schedule Breakdown: The Ravens, who re-signed star quarterback Lamar Jackson, open as the biggest favorite for the first week at eight points. No team has seen odds of double digits at this time for the first week.

The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs get the opening game and take on the rising Lions, who finished the 2022 season, winning eight of their last 10 games and narrowly missing the NFL Playoffs with a 9-8 record. According to CBS, Super Bowl winners are 18-4 straight up and 13-7 against the spread in Week 1 since Super Bowl XXXIV.

On the flip side of the Super Bowl winner are the Eagles, who lost to the Chiefs in the last Super Bowl. The runner-up in the Super Bowl is 8-14 straight up and 4-18 against the spread in Week 1 since Super Bowl XXXIV, according to CBS. This could make the Patriots a popular upset pick in the first week. While the Patriots aren’t favored against the Eagles, the game is generating huge ticket prices as the team will honor former quarterback Tom Brady.

The New York Jets, who made a big splash trading for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, open up the Monday Night Football coverage for the 2023 season with a key AFC East matchup against the Bills.

Five NFL teams (Panthers, Colts, Cardinals, Texans, Broncos) have new head coaches to start the 2023 season. Only the Broncos, who hired Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton out of retirement, are listed as favorites to win in Week 1.

For more on the sports betting landscape and what could be next for popular betting segments and legislation, tune in to the Benzinga Sports Betting Titans virtual event on May 24.

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