The N.F.L. formally agreed to add a 17th regular season game on Tuesday, the first expansion of the league’s schedule since 1978.
To make room for the extra game, the league’s owners trimmed one preseason game off the calendar, leaving three for each team. The upcoming regular season will begin on Thursday, September 9 and end one week later than usual, on Sunday, January 9, 2022. Super Bowl LVI, which will be played in Los Angeles, will also move back one week, to Sunday, February 13, 2022.
Teams will continue to have only one bye week during the season.