- Carrie Underwood will return to NFL’s Sunday Night Football in 2026.
- She’s been singing the opening theme song since 2013.
- An updated version of “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” will air on Sept. 13 on NBC.
Winners never quit, and quitters never win—and Carrie Underwood is no quitter. The Grammy-winning country star is coming back for yet another season of Sunday Night Football this fall.
Carrie has been opening NFL games with the catchy “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” theme song since 2013, when Faith Hill passed her the baton. Anticipate an opening reel that feels familiar, but shakes up previous versions by perhaps going a little harder this year.
“This year’s show open welcomes Sunday Night Football into my ongoing rock star fever dream,” Carrie says in a press release, indicating that her 2026 opener will lean into her love of rock music. Carrie will be shown singing the song from a recording studio, a small, intimate venue, and a packed stadium.
A new photo of the “Blown Away” singer — presumably on set — finds her draped in rhinestones, studs, suede and leather, like a true rocker.
“This season, we’ve drawn inspiration from Carrie’s deep, well-documented love of rock music — a perfect fit since our Sunday Night Football anthem was born from pure rock ‘n’ roll: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You,’” Tripp Dixon, Sunday Night Football’s creative director, further confirms. “We’ve worked to match these two rock frequencies of past and present as they come together in Carrie’s high-energy performance. The greatest players and teams in the NFL will take it from there.”
Adds Carrie: “I love this new version of the track and, once again, Tripp and the incredible team behind the camera brought it to life in a whole new way that captures the spirit of this iconic song and the heart of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s one of my most favorite opens yet!”
A sneak peek of Carrie’s new NFL opener will debut during the Pro Football Hall of Fame game this Thursday, August 6, per NBC. The full theme will air when the NFL kicks off its first Sunday night game of the season on September 13, as the Dallas Cowboys face off against the New York Giants. All Sunday night games will air on NBC and Peacock.
Carrie’s touring calendar is light this year, with only four shows remaining on her books. She’ll play back-to-back shows at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., on August 21 and 22, then head to Lenox, Mass., on August 29 and the Velocity Music Festival in Iowa in early September. That leaves her plenty of Sunday nights to snuggle up on the couch with her family, watching football.
Amanda Hensel Jermstad is a skilled writer based in Austin, Texas. She spent 14 years as Editor-in-Chief of Taste of Country, where she led coverage of the artists, stories and trends shaping country music. With a career deeply rooted in the genre, Amanda has built a reputation for sharp editorial insight and authentic storytelling. Outside of work, she’s a proud mom of three.
