Carrie Underwood’s Back for 2020-2021 ‘Sunday Night Football’ Season
Carrie Underwood will once again open NBC's Sunday Night Football broadcasts during the 2020-2021 NFL season. This year, however, much of the new opening video was put together virtually, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Per a press release, producers of the new SNF opening sequence worked according to COVID-19-related guidelines, filming without extras. Players will appear through virtual cameos, while football fans will be highlighted via user-generated content.
Underwood, meanwhile, recorded a new version of Sunday Night Football's long-used theme song, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night," at a studio in Nashville.
“We are excited about this year’s new collaboration with Carrie, including scenes in the recording studio, and look forward to uniquely incorporating the game’s great fans,” says Tripp Dixon, creative director of SNF's opening video.
The 2020-2021 season is Underwood's eighth with Sunday Night Football. Fans will first get to see the new opening theme on Sept. 13, when the Dallas Cowboys play the Los Angeles Rams in California.
"Waiting All Day for Sunday Night," however, pre-dates Underwood as the SNF theme. NBC began using the song, a re-written version of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You," in 2006. Pop star Pink sang the song that season, then Faith Hill took over until Underwood began her reign in 2013.
Sunday Night Football producers switched the broadcast's theme song in 2016, to "Oh, Sunday Night," a reimagined version of Underwood and Miranda Lambert's "Somethin' Bad." That song was used until 2018, when "Game On," another new song, became the theme for one season. "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" returned in 2019, with Underwood and Jett starring in the opening sequence together.
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