Coaches, players, television broadcast crews, and fans aren’t the only ones gearing up for what’s expected to be a high-energy 2024 NFL season starting on Thursday.
Another significant member of the league fraternity also has their reporting locations. Time to see where head referees are heading during opening weekend.
NFL Referee Assignments for Week 1
All times Eastern and on Sunday unless stated.
- Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs | 8:20 p.m. (Thursday)
- Shawn Hochuli
- Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles (at São Paulo, Brazil) | 8:15 p.m. (Friday)
- Ronald Torbert
- Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills | 1 p.m.
- Tra Blake
- Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints | 1 p.m.
- Alan Eck
- Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m.
- John Hussey
- Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins | 1 p.m.
- Craig Wrolstad
- Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants | 1 p.m.
- Alex Kemp
- New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals | 1 p.m.
- Land Clark
- Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons | 1 p.m.
- Brad Rogers
- Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears | 1 p.m.
- Shawn Smith
- Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks | 4:05 p.m.
- Brad Allen
- Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers | 4:05 p.m.
- Scott Novak
- Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns | 4:25 p.m.
- Clete Blakeman
- Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4:25 p.m.
- Bill Vinovich
- Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions | 8:20 p.m.
- Adrian Hill
- New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers | 8:15 p.m. (Mon)
- Carl Cheffers
Shawn Hochuli earns the distinction of being the head official of the 2024 season opener in Kansas City. The son of legendary referee Ed Hochuli, Shawn now enters his seventh season wearing the stripes and carrying the whistle.
The Chiefs happen to have a great track record with Hochuli. Not because of calls he’s made, but because Kansas City is 9-2 overall with him as the head ref. They also went an unbeaten 2-0 in 2022 games Hochuli officiated.
As for who’s heading south of the Equator for the first-ever NFL game in Brazil, Ron Torbert and his crew will be in São Paulo. The 60-year-old has officiated games for 15 seasons now and is best known for officiating Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
But which game could be due to become the most penalty-filled one?
That may end up being the one Brad Rogers and his crew will be head of in Atlanta. Rogers’ crew is known to throw more flags than others, particularly early in the season. The visiting Steelers, though, have won three of the last four games Rogers has called.
The head judge likely to hear the loudest venue during Week 1 is Adrian Hill in the Motor City. Ford Field became an immensely loud, plus hostile environment, for opposing teams as the Lions captured their first division title since the 1991 season last season, as well as their first divisional crown as an NFC North team. Hill is likely to witness the decibel levels go up, with Detroit hosting the Sunday evening prime-time showdown against the Rams.