It’s been a great season of NFL football and… Carrie Underwood.
Yes, the highly decorated country music superstar is a staple of the NFL season, and has been since she started singing NBC’s Sunday Night Football intro song 12 seasons ago.
Carrie was actually asked to do it a LONG time ago, but declined because she was just getting her career started. Pink was actually the first vocalist to perform the reworked version of the Joan Jett hit in 2006. And then, another country music powerhouse, Faith Hill, took the reins for the next 6 years. Faith eventually thought it was time to give someone else a shot, and that’s when Carrie revisited the idea and stepped up to carry the torch in 2013, and has done so ever since.
Carrie says being part of SNF is something she always looks forward to every year:
“It was so much fun to welcome the Sunday Night Football team back to the Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas. Shooting the new show open is always something I look forward to, and Tripp and the whole creative team brought it yet again, and we had a great day putting on an exciting new performance. Like everybody else, I’m waiting all day for Sunday night!”
And now, with one of the best Sunday Night Football matches we’ve ever seen… a Lions vs Vikings battle for first place in the division and for the #1 seed in the NFC, Carrie has never been more right… we HAVE been waiting all day for a Sunday night.
Cue it up:
New year, same Sunday night anthem. 🎤 @carrieunderwood pic.twitter.com/ilxwR4cFIY
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 6, 2025
Of course, as great as this game is about to be, and as great as Carrie Underwood is… in everything she does, and as great as her legs are… fans quickly realized that this is the last time we’re going to see them her until next football season.
Bummer…
Maybe they’ll bring her back for the playoffs this year, but last year, she was sadly absent despite NBC broadcasting playoff games on Sunday nights.
Either way, fans took to X tonight to voice their sadness and show their respect for the country music icon.
I’m going to miss Sunday night’s with Carrie Underwood 😚
— ItsRichNYJ 🐊✈️🏄♂️🇺🇸 (@Its_Rich2000) January 6, 2025
And with that, we shall seal Carrie Underwood away until the ’25-’26 NFL Season.
— Paul Martin (@bakpuckpaul) January 6, 2025
God bless Carrie Underwood and the last “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” of the football season
— Angel 👨🏽💻 (@angelguerrerooo) January 6, 2025
Genuinely believe there is no better song than Carrie Underwood’s Sunday Night Football. Gets me going every time #waitingallday #SNF
— Rod “Hot Rod” Kimble (@rodkimble23) January 6, 2025
last carrie underwood appearance of the season 🫡🫡
— Coach Billy Belichick (@BillyB_burner) January 6, 2025
Something tells me this guy is gonna miss her too:
Carrie Underwood can crush my skull with those legs and I’d die the happiest man on the planet.
— NFL NPC (@nfl_npc) January 6, 2025
Same brother, same…
$1 Million Per Week For SNF Theme?
Does Carrie really get paid THAT much for her weekly performance?
Not so fast…
With a reported net worth of $140 million, there’s no doubt Underwood has a big price tag for any job, even a gig that requires so little of her time and effort compared to, say, mounting a stadium tour or recording a studio album.
However, multiple outlets ran wild with the claim that Underwood makes $1 million per week during the NFL season when “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” airs, which would amount to a cool $18 million annual side hustle.
Unfortunately for Underwood, according to her own testimony, she does not, in fact, make $1 million per week for the epic Sunday Night Football intro. While she didn’t disclose her actual earnings, Underwood told Howard Stern in an interview from May 2023 that those numbers weren’t accurate:
“Stern: Is it true? It’s $18 million a year?”
Underwood: For me? No!
Stern: It’s not?
Underwood: No! It’s pretty pro bono.
Stern: Is it really? In other words you said, ‘Hey it’s an honor to sing the Sunday Night Football thing?’
Underwood: Yes.
Stern: Oh I heard you got $18 million a year for that.
Underwood: No, I wish. That’d be great! Awesome. The Google steered you wrong there!”
Here’s the correction for the future. She doesn’t make a million an ep pic.twitter.com/FkU0Ehm8Eq
— Hilary ~ MollyVegas ミ☆ (@MollyVegas) March 13, 2024
Now just how far off is Underwood from earning a million a pop on SNF? Nobody among the general public knows for certain. Her pro bono remark makes it seem like it’s more of a favor than a super lucrative gig. It’s probably much closer to zero than it is $18 million per season.
Really the publicity and exposure Underwood gets from this spot alone keeps her squarely in the spotlight and on the minds of millions of viewers in America and beyond. That almost pays for itself. Being associated with the NFL in any major capacity these days bodes well for anyone. Heck, NFL revenue and business is booming so much, the salary cap has more than doubled since 2013.
No weekly $1 million payday aside, I’m sure Underwood doesn’t regret signing on for a second.