Carrie is BACK.
At this point, Carrie Underwood and Sunday Night Football are pretty much synonymous with each other. After taking over for fellow female country superstar Faith Hill during the 2013 season, the “Before He Cheats” singer has now introduced some of the biggest NFL games over the past 13 years, and she’s running it back once again for the 2026 season.
Announced this morning, Underwood is officially set to return to TV screens across America, as she will perform the Sunday Night Football show open on NBC for the 14th straight year.
The full video and performance will debut on Sunday, September 13th, on NBC and Peacock, which will feature an NFC East matchup between long-time rivals, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, which includes a plethora of storylines, including John Harbaugh making his debut as New York’s head coach, Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo returning from season-ending injuries for the Giants and Dallas running it back with the likes of Dak Prescott, Cedee Lamb and George Pickens on their high-powered offense.
Unlike last year, which was filmed at The Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas, this season’s open will feature scenes in the recording studio, an intimate, smaller music venue and a concert at a packed stadium, according to People.
Tripp Dixon, creative director of the SNF show open for each of the past 14 years, explained that the team and Underwood are leaning even heavier into the “Undo It” singer’s love of rock music, calling it a perfect fit.
“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.’
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”
Underwood herself would express how excited she was about this year’s iteration of the iconic intro, highlighting that it captures the “heart of rock ‘n’ roll” and noting it’s one of her favorite versions to date.
“This year’s show open welcomes Sunday Night Football into my ongoing rock star fever dream. 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!”
It’s pretty safe to say that a majority of the country cannot wait for football season to finally start back up this fall. And with Carrie officially running it back for year 14, it’s just another reminder that the most wonderful time of the year (at least in my opinion) is almost here.
Check out the 2026 schedule below:
