The Dolphins schedule runs 17 regular-season games across 18 weeks, from the first Thursday after Labor Day through the first weekend of January, with 8 or 9 home dates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Opponents are locked in by early January, exact dates and kickoff times land in mid-May, and the only place to trust for a changed kickoff is the Schedule section of the team’s official site or the Miami Dolphins app. Here is how we plan a season from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and how to read the slate once it drops.
Quick steps: build your Dolphins season
- Note the opponent list in early January.
- Watch for the full schedule in mid-May.
- Pick home games by kickoff slot and month.
- Buy single-game tickets when they go on sale after release.
- Prepay parking or plan a train and ride-share combo.
- Recheck kickoff times in November for flex changes.
- Confirm gate and lot times on the stadium site the week of the game.
What you need for game day
- Mobile tickets loaded in the Dolphins app or Ticketmaster
- Prepaid parking pass (no cash sales at the lots)
- Clear bag no larger than 12 x 6 x 12 inches, or a small clutch
- Card or phone for payment, the stadium is cashless
- Sunscreen, hat and a refillable water plan for 1 p.m. kickoffs
How the Dolphins schedule is built
The NFL does not pull matchups out of a hat. Every team’s 17 opponents follow a fixed formula, which is why we already know most of who Miami plays before the league announces a single date.
| Opponent category | Games | What it means for Miami |
|---|---|---|
| AFC East rivals (Bills, Jets, Patriots) | 6 | Home and away against each, every year |
| One full AFC division, rotating every 3 years | 4 | Two home, two away |
| One full NFC division, rotating every 4 years | 4 | Two home, two away |
| Same-place finishers in the other two AFC divisions | 2 | Based on last season’s standings |
| Same-place finisher in one NFC division (the 17th game) | 1 | AFC hosts in odd years, NFC hosts in even years |
That last row explains why the number of home games bounces between 8 and 9. In 2025 the AFC hosted the extra game, so Miami had nine home dates. In 2026 the NFC hosts it, so the Dolphins play eight at Hard Rock Stadium and nine on the road.
The division rotation is public and predictable. The AFC East faced the AFC North and NFC South in 2025. For 2026 the rotation brings in the AFC West (Kansas City, the Chargers, Denver and Las Vegas) and the NFC North (Detroit, Chicago, Green Bay and Minnesota). The two same-place AFC games and the NFC West opponent for the 17th game depend on where Miami finished the 2025 standings, and the team site publishes the final list once the regular season ends.
The 2025 slate as a reference point
Last season’s dolphins schedule 2025 is a useful template for what a Miami year looks like: a mix of early 1 p.m. home games in the heat, a run of primetime slots, and one international trip.
| Home opponents (2025) | Away opponents (2025) |
|---|---|
| New England Patriots | Indianapolis Colts |
| New York Jets | Buffalo Bills |
| Buffalo Bills | Carolina Panthers |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Cleveland Browns |
| Baltimore Ravens | Atlanta Falcons |
| Washington Commanders (Madrid) | New York Jets |
| New Orleans Saints | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Cincinnati Bengals | New England Patriots |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
The Commanders game is the odd one out. Miami was the designated home team for the league’s first regular-season game in Spain, at the Bernabéu in November 2025, so it counted as one of the nine home dates even though nobody in Miami Gardens could drive to it. Keep that in mind when a future schedule shows nine home games: one of them might be an international date that season-ticket holders get credited for rather than attend.
The key dates on the Dolphins calendar
The regular season is only four months, but the planning calendar runs all year. Here is the rhythm we work from.
| Window | Typical timing | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Opponents confirmed | Early January, after Week 18 | Shortlist the home games you want |
| NFL Draft | Late April | Roster changes that affect which games sell fast |
| Schedule release | Mid-May, usually a Wednesday night | Note dates, kickoff slots, bye week |
| Single-game tickets on sale | Days after the release | Buy early for Bills, Jets, Patriots and any Chiefs visit |
| Training camp opens | Late July | Claim free practice tickets if offered |
| Preseason | Three games in August | Cheapest live football of the year |
| Regular season | Week 1 after Labor Day to early January | 17 games, one bye |
| Flex scheduling window | Roughly Week 5 onward, heaviest late season | Recheck kickoff times before travel |
| Playoffs | January | Dates set the Sunday night after Week 18 |
Every one of those dates can shift by a few days from year to year. The NFL’s own schedule release announcement and the team’s Schedule page are the two sources we check rather than a third-party listing that may not have updated.
The May release night
The league drops all 272 games at once in mid-May, normally in a primetime broadcast with every team’s full slate posted on its own site at the same moment. The Dolphins usually publish a one-page graphic plus a week-by-week list showing opponent, date, kickoff time and broadcast network. Screenshot it, but treat the kickoff times for November and December games as provisional. Those are the weeks the league moves games into Sunday night, Monday night or Thursday night slots.
Bye week and holiday games
Byes fall somewhere between Week 5 and Week 14. If Miami’s bye lands in late October, that is the weekend we book a trip to the Keys or a day at the miami beaches without checking a kickoff time. The league has also made Christmas and Thanksgiving regular fixtures, and the Dolphins have drawn both in recent years, so a late-December home game is a realistic possibility and worth planning holiday travel around.
Reading kickoff times and TV slots
Most Dolphins home games kick off at 1 p.m. Eastern, which matters more here than almost anywhere else in the league. September and early October 1 p.m. games at Hard Rock Stadium are brutal in the lower sideline sections even with the canopy, because the roof shades most seats but not the field or the first rows. The broadcast window also tells us which network to find.
| Kickoff slot (ET) | Usual broadcaster | South Florida note |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 1:00 p.m. | CBS for most AFC games, FOX when an NFC team visits | Hottest slot of the year through mid-October |
| Sunday 4:05 or 4:25 p.m. | CBS or FOX, often the national doubleheader | Lots fill early; afternoon storms possible in September |
| Sunday 8:20 p.m. | NBC (Sunday Night Football) | Best weather, worst traffic home on the Turnpike |
| Monday 8:15 p.m. | ESPN/ABC | School and work night; plan the drive from Palm Beach |
| Thursday 8:15 p.m. | Amazon Prime Video | Streaming only outside the local market |
| Holiday and international | Netflix (Christmas), NFL Network, or network specials | Confirm each year, the mix changes |
Locally, CBS games run on WFOR, FOX games on WSVN, NBC on WTVJ and ABC on WPLG, so a Dolphins game on a national network is almost always on free over-the-air television in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Prime Video and Netflix games are streamed, but the NFL requires those to be simulcast on a local station in the two teams’ home markets, so check the team site for the local channel in the week of the game.
Flex scheduling, the thing that catches travelers out
A kickoff on the May schedule is not a promise. Sunday afternoon games can be moved into Sunday night from roughly Week 5 on, with the heaviest movement from mid-November to Week 17. Monday and Thursday night games can also be flexed late in the year, with Thursday changes requiring the longest notice. If you booked a flight into miami international airport for a 1 p.m. Sunday game in December and the league moves it to 8:20 p.m., your Sunday night flight home is gone. Recheck the Schedule page two weeks out and again the week of the game.
Getting Dolphins tickets
Single-game tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster within days of the May release, and the Dolphins sell everything as mobile tickets delivered to the team app or your Ticketmaster account. No paper, no PDF printouts at the gate.
Demand is not even across the season, and that is the whole trick to buying well.
Games that sell fast and resell high: Bills, Jets and Patriots home dates, any visit from Kansas City, and primetime games. If 2026 brings the Chiefs to Miami Gardens, buy on release day.
Games with softer prices: early-season 1 p.m. games in the heat, a visiting team with a small traveling fan base, and the late-season game if the Dolphins are out of contention. Those are the games we take kids to, in the upper bowl with the shade.
Preseason: three games in August, with the home dates priced well below regular-season levels. Starters play little, but it is a cheap way to see the stadium before deciding on a bigger purchase.
Season tickets and memberships: handled by the team’s ticket office directly, not Ticketmaster. If you only want four or five games, the team has sold partial plans in past seasons, and the ticket office is the place to confirm what exists this year.
Good to know
Only buy resale through Ticketmaster’s verified marketplace or a seller you know. A screenshot of a mobile ticket is worthless at the gate, since the barcode rotates. Parking is also sold in advance and the lots do not take cash on game day, so a stranger selling a “pass” on NW 199th Street is selling you nothing.
Getting to Hard Rock Stadium and parking
The stadium sits at 347 Don Shula Drive in Miami Gardens, between NW 199th Street and NW 203rd Street, with Florida’s Turnpike on the west side and NW 27th Avenue on the east. It is in the northern tip of Miami-Dade, so Broward fans often have an easier drive than people coming up from Brickell.
Driving from each county
From Miami-Dade: Florida’s Turnpike northbound or I-95 to the NW 199th Street corridor. Leave Brickell or Coral Gables at least two hours before a 1 p.m. kickoff. If you are staying out west near the airport and the dolphin mall, add the full 826 to Turnpike run and treat 40 minutes as the floor with no traffic.
From Broward: I-95 south or the Turnpike south is a 30 to 45 minute trip from Fort Lauderdale in normal traffic, longer from Coral Springs and Weston. This is the easiest drive of the three counties.
From Palm Beach: budget 75 to 90 minutes from West Palm Beach on I-95 for a Sunday afternoon, more for a Monday night when the drive overlaps rush hour.
Parking
Dolphins game parking must be purchased in advance through the team’s ticketing partner, and you will be assigned a lot color and gate. Lots typically open about four hours before kickoff, with stadium gates opening roughly two hours before, but the exact times post on the stadium site for each game and can change for primetime slots. Arrive when the lots open if you want to tailgate; arrive 90 minutes before kickoff if you only want to park and walk in. Leaving at the final whistle puts you in a 45 to 60 minute queue to reach the Turnpike, so we either leave early in a blowout or stay in the lot for an hour.
Train and ride-share
Hard Rock Stadium is not on Metrorail, and that surprises visitors. Brightline’s Aventura station is the closest rail stop for anyone coming from Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton or West Palm Beach, with a short ride-share hop to the stadium. Tri-Rail‘s Golden Glades station is also a few miles away. Both railroads and Miami-Dade Transit have run game-day connections in past seasons, and the arrangements change, so check the Tri-Rail and Miami-Dade Transit game-day pages the week before rather than relying on last year’s shuttle. Ride-share drop-off and pickup use a designated zone, and surge pricing after a primetime game is real; walking ten minutes away from the stadium before requesting a car usually cuts both the wait and the fare.
Local tip
For a 1 p.m. September game, the upper deck on the west side gets canopy shade first. Lower sideline seats near the field look great on the seating map and roast until about 3 p.m. Pick the cheaper, higher, shadier seat for the early-season games and spend the difference on a November lower-bowl ticket when the weather is perfect.
Seats, food and the stadium itself
The 2016 canopy changed the experience for most of the building. It covers nearly all seats but not the field, which is why we keep harping on sun angles. Club and lower-level seats on the home sideline cost the most, the end zones are the value play for seeing the whole field, and the upper corners are where a family of four can get in without a second mortgage.
The stadium is fully cashless. Concessions, merchandise and parking all run on cards and mobile wallets, and there are reverse ATMs that convert cash to a prepaid card if someone in your group only brought bills. Outside food is not permitted, but a sealed water bottle policy has varied by event, so confirm the current bag and food rules on the stadium site before you pack a cooler for the lot. The clear bag rule is strict: a 12 x 6 x 12 inch clear bag or a small clutch about the size of a hand. Backpacks and purses get turned away at the gate, and the walk back to the car is long and hot.
For tailgating, a publix bogo run the day before covers the basics without the game-day premium. Grills are allowed in the designated tailgate lots, and the stadium posts which lots those are each season.
Planning the season around South Florida weather
This is the angle that most national schedule pages miss. The dolphins schedule overlaps hurricane season (June 1 through November 30) for its first three months, and the heat index for a September 1 p.m. kickoff regularly tops 100.
September and early October: the two or three hottest home games of the year. Sunday 1 p.m. slots mean sunscreen, a hat and arriving late rather than tailgating for four hours. Afternoon thunderstorms can delay a game, and a named storm can move one entirely. Miami’s 2017 opener against Tampa Bay was postponed by Hurricane Irma and played in November, which is the extreme case, but it shows why we never book nonrefundable travel for a September game.
Late October and November: the best stretch. Humidity drops, Sunday night and Monday night games are comfortable, and the big AFC East games often land here.
December and January: pleasant, sometimes genuinely cool at night, and often the stretch with the most schedule movement if the Dolphins are in the playoff race. This is when the flex rules bite, so check kickoff times before committing to a weekend plan.
The playoff schedule, if it comes
Playoff seeding and the wild-card schedule are set on the Sunday night that Week 18 ends, and the league usually announces dates and times within a day. Wild-card games fall on the second weekend of January, with three days of games including a Monday night slot. If Miami earns a home playoff game, tickets go on sale fast through the same Ticketmaster channel, and season-ticket holders get first access. The team also sells “playoff reservation” or deposit options in some seasons when a home game looks likely; the ticket office confirms whether that exists in a given year.
Preseason and training camp
The three preseason games in August rotate between two home and one away, or the reverse, from year to year, and dates are announced around the same time as the regular-season release. Training camp opens in late July at the Baptist Health Training Complex next to the stadium in Miami Gardens. The team typically opens a handful of practices to fans with free tickets claimed online, and those are family-friendly, early-morning sessions that beat sitting in a stadium in August. Details post on the team site each July, including which dates are open and how to claim.
Watching when you cannot go
Dolphins games on CBS, FOX, NBC and ABC are available over the air in South Florida with an antenna, which is the cheapest route. Streaming-exclusive games on Prime Video and Netflix are simulcast on a local station in the Miami market, so you do not need a subscription for those if you live here. Out-of-market fans need the streaming service or a package that carries it. The team’s radio network broadcasts every game in English and Spanish, and the current flagship stations are listed on the team site under the broadcast section.
When to get help
Call the Dolphins ticket office directly for season tickets, partial plans, group tickets, accessible seating and anything involving a transfer that will not go through in the app. For parking and gate questions on the day, the stadium’s guest services line and the Hard Rock Stadium site are the right sources. For a disputed resale purchase, go through Ticketmaster’s fan support rather than the seller.
FAQ
Is the Miami Dolphins game on TV today?
If the Dolphins play today, it is on one of the local affiliates: CBS games on WFOR, FOX on WSVN, NBC on WTVJ and ABC on WPLG. Streaming-exclusive games on Prime Video or Netflix are simulcast on a local Miami station as well. The team’s Schedule page lists the network and the local channel for each game, and that is the fastest way to confirm today’s kickoff time, since late-season games can be flexed.
What is the Miami Dolphins’ schedule for 2026?
The 2026 opponents follow the league formula: Buffalo, the Jets and New England home and away, all four AFC West teams (Kansas City, the Chargers, Denver, Las Vegas), all four NFC North teams (Detroit, Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota), plus same-place finishers from the AFC North, AFC South and NFC West based on the 2025 standings. Miami has eight home games and nine away in 2026 because the NFC hosts the 17th game in even years. Exact dates and kickoff times are released in mid-May on the team site.
What are the latest news on the Miami Dolphins?
For roster moves, injuries and schedule changes, the team’s official site and app publish the authoritative version first, followed by the South Florida beat reporters at the major local outlets. For anything that affects your plans, such as a kickoff time change or a gate policy update, trust only the team and stadium sites. Social media rumors about flexed games tend to run days ahead of the actual league announcement.
What is the schedule for the Dolphins?
The regular season is 17 games over 18 weeks, starting the Thursday after Labor Day and ending the first weekend of January, with one bye week between Weeks 5 and 14 and three preseason games in August. The full week-by-week schedule, with dates, times and networks, is posted on the team’s Schedule page in mid-May each year and updated whenever the league flexes a game.
When do Dolphins single-game tickets go on sale?
Within days of the May schedule release, through Ticketmaster and the Dolphins app. Division games and primetime dates sell fastest. Preseason tickets are the cheapest way to see a game live, and the team’s ticket office handles season and partial plans directly.
Is Hard Rock Stadium reachable by train?
Not directly. Brightline’s Aventura station and Tri-Rail’s Golden Glades station are the nearest rail stops, each a short ride-share or shuttle trip from the stadium. Game-day shuttle arrangements change from season to season, so check the Tri-Rail and Miami-Dade Transit pages the week of the game.
