For the 12th consecutive year, Carrie Underwood kicked off the NFL regular season with the Sunday Night Football theme song.

Carrie Underwood brought a new twist to the Sunday Night Football theme for the 2024 season opener between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions. Sunday Night Football executive producer, Rob Hyland, teased the new rendition of “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” in a recent interview.

“The music is very different. We essentially flipped the song upside down. The song now starts with the chorus, which is something we used to always build toward,” Hyland said.

Underwood’s new theme song rendition is an updated twist on Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Pink! was the first artist to have the honor of singing “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” to kick off Sunday Night Football games in 2006. The following year, country superstar Faith Hill took over and sang the song from 2007 to 2013.

When Carrie Underwood took over, the theme song changed to “Oh, Sunday Night,” a song inspired by the American Idol champ’s 2014 duet with Miranda Lambert, “Somethin’ Bad

“The music is very different. We essentially flipped the song upside down. The song now starts with the chorus, which is something we used to always build toward,” Hyland said.

Underwood’s new theme song rendition is an updated twist on Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Pink! was the first artist to have the honor of singing “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” to kick off Sunday Night Football games in 2006. The following year, country superstar Faith Hill took over and sang the song from 2007 to 2013.

Sunday Night Football on NBC (Faith Hill)

When Carrie Underwood took over, the theme song changed to “Oh, Sunday Night,” a song inspired by the American Idol champ’s 2014 duet with Miranda Lambert, “Somethin’ Bad.”

In 2016, Underwood changed the song once again, this time to “Game On,” a theme that got mixed reactions from football fans. Three seasons later, “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” returned and has been the theme song since.

Carrie Underwood Initially Turned Down The Sunday Night Football Gig

In a recent interview with Yahoo!, Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of NFL coverage for NBC, said that Carrie Underwood was offered the opportunity to sing the SNF theme song the year after she won American Idol…and she said no.

Carrie later explained that she turned down the opportunity in 2006 because “it wasn’t the right time.”

Gaudelli reached out to Underwood again seven years later, this time with proof that she would be a perfect fit for the gig.

“I showed her the demographic breakdown, and once that was done, she’s like, ‘You know what? You’re right. We should do this,’” Gaudelli said. “And that began a now 12-year run.”

Each year, Underwood has had a say in the look and feel of the opener. Gaudelli gives credit to Carrie and her stylist for changing things up and getting creative with the look of each new season.

“When we’re trying things on, we want to coordinate with what’s going on around me. But at the end of the day, they always kind of let me pick what I want to wear. Nobody has had any problems with what we’ve picked out,” Carrie Underwood said. “We always have to be mindful to not be too team specific. So if I was going to wear blue and orange, it would look like [I’m] a Broncos fan. We try to stay away from that kind of stuff and be kind of neutral — but it’s hard because every color is spoken for! We try to keep it to where nobody would think I’m supporting one specific team.”

How Much Does Carrie Underwood Get Paid For Singing Sunday Night Football Theme Song?

Life & Style reports that Carrie Underwood earns $1 million per week for singing “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night.” With the regular NFL season lasting 18 weeks, that makes for an $18 million payday for the Grammy Award winner.
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