U2 to play halftime at NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game
The band is booked for the Packers–Rams game at SoFi Stadium on November 25, with Netflix carrying the league’s first Thanksgiving Eve matchup.
U2 will headline halftime at the NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game, the league announced on October 20. The Green Bay Packers are scheduled to face the Los Angeles Rams on November 25 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with Netflix carrying the game. The booking puts the band at the centre of a new holiday fixture for the league.
United Press International reported that Netflix’s coverage will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern time, ahead of a scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff. U2’s performance will take place at halftime. The game is the NFL’s first on Thanksgiving Eve, a date immediately before its long-established Thanksgiving Day schedule.
U2’s return to an NFL halftime show
The appearance will bring U2 back to an NFL field for the first time since the band played the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show in 2002. That game also involved the Rams, who were then based in St. Louis; they lost to the New England Patriots. The Hollywood Reporter recalled that U2’s performance paid tribute to victims of the September 11 attacks.
UPI reported that the Thanksgiving Eve performance will celebrate U2’s 50th anniversary as a group. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a statement quoted by the three outlets that the band had headlined stadiums for decades and would bring that experience to the NFL broadcast. No set list was announced in the reports.
Netflix’s growing holiday football schedule
The Thanksgiving Eve game adds another NFL holiday broadcast for Netflix. The Hollywood Reporter said the service began carrying NFL Christmas Day games a couple of years ago and has made halftime performances a feature of those broadcasts. Beyoncé led the halftime show during Netflix’s first Christmas Day NFL coverage in 2024, according to Deadline.
Last year’s Christmas Day programme featured a halftime event hosted by Snoop Dogg, with performances by Lainey Wilson, Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli and HUNTR/X, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The U2 booking gives the new Thanksgiving Eve game a musical centrepiece as Netflix extends that holiday broadcast format to a different date on the NFL calendar.
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Sources and context
- U2 to headline first-ever NFL Thanksgiving Eve game halftime showUnited Press International (republished by Yahoo Sports)
- U2 to Headline Halftime Show on Netflix’s Thanksgiving Eve NFL GameThe Hollywood Reporter
- U2 To Perform During Netflix’s Thanksgiving Eve NFL BroadcastDeadline
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.