SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Opening Starring Carrie Underwood to be Filmed in NFL Stadium for First Time

The new NBC Sunday Night Football show open - for the first time in the series' 14 seasons - will be filmed inside an NFL stadium, with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons, serving as the "stage."

Seven-time Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist Carrie Underwood will perform on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium field and will be accompanied by NFL stars in her presentation of the opening theme for NBC's Sunday Night Football, primetime television's No. 1 program for an unprecedented eight consecutive years.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, also home to the MLS Cup Champions Atlanta United, has played host to the 2018 COLLEGE FOOTBALL championship, the 2018 MLS Cup, and most recently SUPER BOWL LIII. In addition, it is the newest NFL stadium and made its NFL regular-season debut on Sunday Night Football on Sept. 17, 2017. Last month, Mercedes-Benz Stadium was named Sports Facility of the Year at the Sports Business Awards.

"From the unique roof to the striking halo, with the perspective it offers relative to the action on the field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium has a number of features which will add to our creative execution of the show open," said Fred Gaudelli, Executive Producer of NBC's Sunday Night Football.

"We're grateful to NBC for their excellent partnership with our league and thrilled the network chose Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the backdrop for the iconic Sunday Night Football opening in 2019," said Arthur M. Blank, Atlanta Falcons Owner and Chairman. "Being the first stadium featured in the lead-in to television's number one show is another great recognition for MBS, our team and our city that makes us all very proud."

The 2019 NBC Sunday Night Football show open will debut on Sunday, Sept. 8 as the SUPER BOWL champion New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pepsi is the sponsor of the SNF open and will be integrated on-air each week.