She may be known in the world of country music for hits like ‘Before He Cheats’ and ‘Blown Away’, but to the average American sports fan, Carrie Underwood is the voice of Sunday Night Football.
The 41-year-old Underwood has been singing the intro song to NBC’s NFL broadcasts each year since 2013 after she replaced fellow country star Faith Hill.
Over the years, it’s been speculated by multiple fans and outlets that the ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ singer – who is set to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremonies in a few days time – earns a whopping $1million each time that her recording of the song plays on the broadcasts.
With 18 weeks in an NFL season, that would mean that Underwood earns at least $18million. That doesn’t account for the doubling-up NBC does in Week 1 – when they broadcast the first game of the season on a Thursday, then shows another game that Sunday – nor does it account for any time it plays in the playoffs.
Nevertheless, $18m+ seems like a steep fee to pay for a song that plays for about 30 seconds. Underwood herself also appears to think that’s too high a price.
Making an appearance on the Howard Stern Show in May of 2023, she sH๏τ those rumored price tags down.
Carrie Underwood denied she is earning $1million each time her ‘Sunday Night’ anthem plays
Underwood has been singing before NBC’s marquee football show each year since 2013
The ‘Before He Cheats’ star is set to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ at Trump’s inauguration
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‘For me?… No. It’s pretty pro bono. I wish! That would be great, that would be awesome!,’ she said on the show at the time.
Underwood was initially offered the job back in 2006, but she turned it down due to her busy schedule at the time. Pop singer P!nk took the role for one season before executives handed the job over to Hill for six years.
Then, NBC went back to Underwood back in 2013 and she accepted the role. She’s been on television screens of Americans ever since.
Underwood admits that her two sons that she has with former Nashville Predators hockey captain Mike Fisher, Isaiah and Jacob, enjoy seeing her on the broadcast.
‘They love seeing me on TV,’ she added. ‘But even with younger kids who obviously did not see me on American Idol or early in my career, to some kiddos, [SNF] is what they know me from. So I’ll take it. That’s really amazing.’
Earlier this week, it was announced that Underwood was set to perform ‘America the Beautiful’ at Trump’s second inauguration ceremony. The announcement drew major backlash from fans at the time, but sources told DailyMail.com that the country star is not concerned.
‘This is going to be a big year for Carrie who is embarking on being a judge for American Idol and now performing at the inauguration,’ the source explained.
‘This is something that she is very proud of, and the spin she is putting on it is that she is doing it for America, not specifically for Trump.’
