Carrie Underwood is reportedly returning to Sunday Night Football with a new opener, and fans are ecstatic to see her on their TVs again in the 2025 season. According to a post on Twitter/X from the Las Vegas Review Journal, Underwood has stayed in Las Vegas during the break in her residency to film the new opening segment.
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“Carrie Underwood is filming the 2025 opening for ‘Sunday Night Football’ at Resorts World Theatre, staying through the break and working with about 50 extras. Hearing she makes $1 million per Sunday opening the NFL regular season. Has been working on this version since last Sunday,” wrote Review Journal staff writer John Katsilometes. With 18 weeks in the regular season, that would theoretically push Underwood’s Sunday Night Football salary north of $15 million per year.
However, some fans were quick to correct the claims that Underwood makes $1 million per SNF opening. According to fans, she makes nothing for her contribution to regular season football, instead performing the opener pro-bono.
“But she doesn’t make that. She said on Howard Stern it’s probono,” one fan wrote. They also included a clip where she spoke on the Howard Stern Show about the rumors of her pay.
Stern asked in the interview, which was conducted in May 2023, if she really makes $18 million per year for her SNF opener, per a report from Music Mayhem Magazine.
“For me?” she replied, while a shocked Stern asked, “Oh, it’s not?” Underwood clarified, “No… It’s pretty pro bono.” She went on to say that the rumors of her making millions of dollars for her appearance are inaccurate. “No, I wish, that’d be great. That’d be awesome. [Google] steered you wrong there,” she said.
Carrie Underwood Has Some Words for Artists Who Don’t Sound Like Their Albums
Carrie Underwood knows the secret to success, and it all comes down to skill. Recently, she shared her opinion on artists who don’t sound like their album when they perform live. In conversation with Rolling Stone, she revealed that singers should have the skills to back up their studio albums.
“I love to sing, and I’ve always taken pride in the work I’ve put in on my vocals. I do want to sound good,” she began. However, she then expressed disdain for artists who choose to record songs they then can’t perform live.
“Growing up and going to concerts or seeing my favorite artists on TV, if they didn’t sound like they were supposed to sound, it was always so deflating. I’d lose respect for them,” she said. “Or when I’d go to a concert and hear them drop keys, I was like, ‘You can’t hit the notes! Why’d you record them if you can’t sing them?’ That stuff is important to me.”
Featured Image by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Stagecoach
