Carrie Underwood’s Sunday Night Football Theme Returns in 2026 With a New Rock Twist for NBC Viewers
NEW YORK, NY — The countdown to Sunday night football is back on. NBC says Carrie Underwood will return for the 2026 season open of Sunday Night Football, extending one of TV sports’ most recognizable traditions.
The first regular-season broadcast of the year arrives Sept. 13, when the New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys. Underwood’s pregame anthem will once again lead viewers into the network’s prime-time NFL showcase.
NBC is giving the opening sequence another seasonal refresh
Underwood’s updated version of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” continues the long-running formula built around Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” NBC Sports creative director Tripp Dixon said the team does not simply reuse the same intro, but reworks it each year to keep the opening feeling fresh.
That approach has helped turn the song into part of the show’s identity. Underwood has already gone through earlier versions of the intro, including “Oh, Sunday Night” and “Game On,” before NBC brought back the familiar Jett melody in 2019.
Dixon said the 2026 version leans harder into Underwood’s love of rock music, which matches the song’s roots. The goal, he said, is to make the open feel like a true entertainment production, not just a sports pregame segment.
The 2026 production stretches beyond the usual studio setup
This season’s introduction was built with a broader visual plan than recent years. For the past three seasons, NBC filmed the opener at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas, where Underwood performs her Reflection residency.
In 2026, the sequence will feature three settings: a recording studio, a small music venue and a concert-style stadium scene. NBC says that mix is meant to show different sides of the performance while matching the energy of the weekly NFL matchup reveal.
Underwood usually records the vocal master track and team-specific lines in Nashville before the video production begins. Dixon estimates the recording session takes about three hours, crediting her for handling the whole process in one sitting.
Why the theme remains one of NBC’s most durable fall rituals
Sunday Night Football remains a major draw for NBC, with more than 20 million households tuning in each week and the broadcast holding the title of prime-time television’s most-watched show for 15 straight years.
That reach is part of why Underwood’s opening sequence matters so much to fans. It has become a weekly signal that the NFL’s biggest Sunday night stage is about to begin, with the singer returning for her 14th consecutive season as the show’s familiar voice.
As the Sept. 13 opener approaches, NBC is counting on that mix of sports, spectacle and a refreshed anthem to launch the season with the same energy viewers have come to expect.
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