Why NFL Fans Are Upset With NBC’s Latest Carrie Underwood Decision
The NFL world isn’t holding back. As the 2025 football season approaches, NBC’s recent move involving Carrie Underwood and Sunday Night Football has sparked a surge of angry comments from fans across social media. The details of the network’s decision haven’t been spelled out for the public, but the disappointment is impossible to ignore. Many point to changes in Underwood’s role as the voice of the SNF theme song, a highlight of the Sunday night broadcast for over a decade.
Scrolling through fan reactions, there’s a clear sense that this isn’t just about a song. For plenty of viewers, Underwood’s rendition of the SNF anthem isn’t background noise—it’s a weekly tradition. Tampering with that has left some nostalgic, others frustrated, and many just plain confused. Some longtime fans argue the signature open gives Sunday Night Football its energy, setting the tone for the week’s most-watched game. The fear? That by altering or sidelining Underwood, NBC is messing with something a whole lot of viewers consider sacred.
The Ongoing 'Game On' Legal Saga: What’s Really Going On?
The network’s awkward juggling act doesn’t come out of nowhere. There’s been legal drama brewing for years. Back in 2017, songwriters Heidi Merrill and a team of collaborators alleged that Underwood’s ‘Game On’ track, which debuted as the new SNF anthem, infringed on their own earlier composition. That set off a legal fight that’s thrown ongoing uncertainty over Underwood’s musical role on SNF ever since.
This isn’t the first time SNF has been through a theme song shakeup, but with a star of Underwood's caliber and the history behind her versions, it stings more than usual for fans. The copyright battle prompted the network to weigh fresh music, alternate versions, or possibly distancing from Underwood’s arrangement—none of which sits well with loyal viewers. Even those who weren’t die-hard fans of ‘Game On’ say they prefer the familiar to another round of network experimentation.
So what exactly did NBC decide? While the specifics are still fuzzy, the backlash points to a reduction or major shift in Underwood’s musical presence for the 2025 SNF broadcasts. Whether that means scrapping her latest theme, rolling out a new artist, or remixing the classic open, the verdict from many NFL diehards is the same: enough with the changes.
Viewers will be tuning in this fall with extra scrutiny, watching not just for the action on the field, but to see if the Sunday night experience—and its anthem—still feel like home.