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Carrie Underwood has performed the Sunday Night Football song for 10 years. But this year, the NFL is replacing some of the American Idol star’s scenes with other content. Here’s why NFL fans might not see as much of Underwood on Sunday Night Football.

Carrie Underwood, the face of Sunday Night Football for 10 years, performs on stage.
Carrie Underwood | Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Carrie Underwood has been the face of Sunday Night Football for 10 years

NFL fans know that Carrie Underwood has been the face (and voice) of Sunday Night Football for a decade. The American Idol winner opens each show with the famous song, “Waitin’ All Day for Sunday Night.”

Although the track has been the show’s theme song for most of the years that Underwood has performed the opener, two other songs have also been used. From 2016 to 2018, SNF used “Oh, Sunday Night” (a twist on her Miranda Lambert duet, “Somethin’ Bad”), and in 2018, the show played “Game On” as the theme.

“Performing the show open for Sunday Night Football for 10 years has been such a joy and privilege for me,” Underwood said in a statement (via Billboard).  “It’s always a fun day when we shoot the new open – our amazing creative team somehow manages to top themselves year after year.” 

Carrie Underwood might get less screen time on Sunday Night Football

Sunday Night Football is making some changes to their show’s open that might affect how much screen time Carrie Underwood gets. While the country music star will still perform the theme song, she won’t have to do the opener alone. The show is adding footage of fans and the cities where games will take place. 

“This season, with stadiums full again, we wanted to get that sense of reality and optimism and energy – and the more authentic connection that comes with that,” said Tripp Dixon, the creative director of the show’s opening segment for the past 10 years (per Variety).

“You might see a fan at a tailgate leading a song. You might see a player signing an autograph,” Dixon continued. “I think it gives off an energy, and it also gives things an immediacy. It’s an opening that’s meant to be unique from week to week, and it’s kind of episodic in a way.”

He added, “We are doing more than just showing the teams or the matchup. This is really meant to go a step further and capture those moments that help build anticipation going into the game.”

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The country music star has been a football fan since she was a baby

Carrie Underwood is married to a hockey player, but she’s a huge football. The Oklahoma native said she has been watching the NFL since “birth.”

“I love being the voice of Sunday Night Football because I grew up watching football from birth,” Underwood said (via Taste of Country). “I’m from Oklahoma – we’re a football state. It’s just a part of the country that everybody has their teams and there’s such an energy about it.”

She went on to describe how it feels to be a part of SNF as a fan. “There’s just something about being at a live sporting event or watching it on TV. You have your favorites. They have their rivals,” Underwood said. “There’s an excitement to it that really, it’s unlike anything else, so being a small part of that is absolutely amazing.”

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