Carrie Underwood will once again headline NBC's Sunday Night Football show open for the 2026 season, marking her 14th consecutive year fronting the segment. She has teased that this year's version, built around a rock 'n' roll theme, represents her "ongoing rock star fever dream" and one of her favourite openings to date.

The new show open, created with creative director Tripp Dixon, will feature scenes set in a recording studio, a small music venue and a packed stadium, built around a reworked version of the show's long-running anthem, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself for Loving You". Fans will see it for the first time on 13 September, when the Dallas Cowboys play the New York Giants. The announcement follows news that American Idol, on which Underwood serves as a judge alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, has been renewed for a 25th season.