Thirteen seasons. Ninety seconds a week. And a reported $1 million per episode. That’s the going rate, industry chatter says, for the voice that opens America’s most-watched primetime telecast. Carrie Underwood has owned the Sunday Night Football anthem long enough that kids who grew up on it are now watching with their own kids. For NBC, the number isn’t just about a song. It’s about a brand signal that tells millions: the biggest game of the week is here.
The network hasn’t confirmed the paycheck, but multiple reports peg Underwood’s take at roughly $18 million for a full season. That matches the scale of the platform. Sunday Night Football has ruled primetime for over a decade, and the open is the glossy handshake before kickoff. It hits the audience before players do, and it shows up in promos all week. If it feels pricey, that’s because it’s meant to be—high-profile, high-impact, and hard to miss.
Underwood knows the gig’s place in the ritual. She’s called the production glam and electric, the kind of thing people bring up to her on the street. That tracks with how fans use it: as a countdown, a pump-up, a weekly cue that the weekend isn’t over yet. For NBC, that cue is a marketing engine. It tees up the broadcast, props up social clips, and gives the network a signature moment to wrap around every Sunday.
A 90-second open that moves the needle
Tripp Dixon, the creative director behind the SNF open, has framed the song as more than a theme. It sets the tone and tips the cap to teams, stars, and fans. There’s a reason the edit is packed with helmets, game shots, and stadium lights: the open previews the night’s story in shorthand. By the time the booth tosses to Al and Cris (and now Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth), viewers have already been aimed at the marquee matchup.
The production is not small. Each season, the team reshoots the open with fresh looks, updated graphics, and new player cutaways from the year’s key teams. Wardrobe, choreography, lighting design, and VFX are rebuilt to match the season’s art direction. The result: a 90-second spot that looks like a tour stop and functions like a trailer.
There’s also history baked into the music. The original “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” borrows its hook from Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” which gives the track a stadium-ready riff fans recognize in one bar. P!nk launched the NBC era of the theme in 2006. Faith Hill took it from 2007 to 2012. Underwood took over in 2013, and there have been detours—like “Oh, Sunday Night” built off her “Somethin’ Bad” and a spin called “Game On”—but the NFL’s Sunday soundtrack keeps circling back to that Jett guitar line. It just works.
Why keep iterating? Because the open has to feel fresh without losing the muscle memory. The same hook, new visuals, new stars. That continuity makes the thing hum. If you’ve watched for years, you don’t need a lower-third to tell you what’s on. You hear the downbeat and you’re in.
Why NBC pays top dollar
So, the money. A reported $1 million per week sounds wild for a minute-and-change of TV, but look at the math the way a network does. Sunday Night Football draws the biggest live audience in primetime. Ad rates for the broadcast sit at the top of the TV market, and inventory sells because the audience actually watches live. The open doesn’t just decorate that product; it strengthens it.
Think about what NBC is buying. Star power that crosses country, pop, and mainstream sports audiences. A familiar voice that can carry a promo in August and feel just as right in January. A performance that travels across broadcast, streaming replays, and social feeds. If that opening number becomes part of the culture—something kids shout along to in the living room—it’s working as a brand asset, not just a song.
There’s also the weekly grind of pro football. Every Sunday is a new tentpole. Underwood’s open gives NBC a consistent frame across 18 weeks and playoffs, even as matchups, injuries, and storylines churn. It’s a reliable piece of showmanship that says: this is the big one.
For Underwood, the gig is a long-running prime-time showcase that doesn’t require a cross-country tour. For NBC, it’s stability plus flash. And for fans, it’s part of the ritual—sandwiched between the last bites of dinner and the first third-down stop of the night.
The number will keep sparking debate—should a weekly performance cost that much? But when you zoom out, it fits the economics of NFL Sundays. Networks spend on the pieces that make their biggest night feel bigger. A polished, unforgettable open helps do that. It’s the spark before the kickoff, the tone-setter that tells you the main event has arrived. In a business built on habit and hype, that’s worth a lot.
Bottom line: the song isn’t background noise. It’s a fixture—one that NBC keeps investing in because it keeps paying off where it counts.
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