NFL

Plenty around the NFL will be different in 2026, from Myles Garrett playing for the Rams to Steelers-Ravens battles without Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh.

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For NBC’s «Sunday Night Football» broadcasts, however, it will be more of the same. Not only is the tandem of Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth back for another season, but so is Carrie Underwood as the singer of NBC’s official NFL anthem.

Underwood’s song will be a bit different this season, the network announced ahead of the Hall of Fame Game.

Here’s what you need to know about the new «Sunday Night Football» theme song.

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Carrie Underwood’s new NFL song details

Underwood will still be performing an NFL-themed variation of «I Hate Myself for Loving You» by Joan Jett as NBC’s «Sunday Night Football» anthem this season, but there will be changes.

The new edition «leans heavily into rock ’n’ roll influences, combining Underwood’s energetic performance with a larger-scale visual production that moves from a club setting to a stadium atmosphere,» NBC announced. 

NBC called the new theme a «refresh» and emphasized how Underwood’s love of rock music inspired the change.

As part of NBC’s announcement, Underwood said the song will be presented «in a whole new way that captures the spirit of this iconic song and the heart of rock ‘n’ roll.»

The full version of the new song won’t debut until the Cowboys face the Giants on «Sunday Night Football» in Week 1, though NBC is airing a teaser during the Hall of Fame Game. 

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Carrie Underwood Sunday Night Football History

Underwood is heading into her 14th season as the singer of NBC’s «Sunday Night Football» intro song. While she and NBC experimented with different songs during the early portion of her time in the role, the «American Idol» winner has been singing a variation of Joan Jett’s «I Hate Myself or Loving You» since 2019.

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NBC started airing «Sunday Night Football» in 2006, so Underwood has now performed the theme song for two-thirds of that time. 

How long has the NFL used ‘Waiting All Day For Sunday Night?’

«Waiting All Day for Sunday Night» debuted with NBC earning the rights to «Sunday Night Football» in 2006, when Pink served as the inaugural singer of the theme song for NBC.

The song, a variation of Joan Jett’s «I Hate Myself or Loving You,» continued to be used through 2015 and returned for the 2019 season after Underwood and NBC experimented with two other songs. 

«Waiting All Day for Sunday Night» isn’t going anywhere, but it evidently will have a new sound and feel in 2026.

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Other songs used as Sunday Night Football Intro

While NBC has tinkered with «Waiting All Day for Sunday Night» at different points over the years, only 2016-18 saw the network actually switch to a different «Sunday Night Football» theme song. 

Underwood recorded «Oh, Sunday Night» for the 2016 season. In 2018, Underwood and other songwriters crafted a new song called «Game On» to serve as the «Sunday Night Football» intro, but she and NBC were sued for plagiarism and switched back to «Waiting All Day for Sunday Night» in 2019. 

Carrie Underwood age

Underwood is 43 years old. She’s set to turn 44 next March.

Underwood has been the face of NBC’s «Sunday Night Football» intro song since she was 30, and she has stuck with it despite some changes to the production over the years. 

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