Beyoncé’s Christmas Day NFL halftime performance is on course to be one “heck of a show,” a league executive told Newsweek.
Netflix is set to make a splashy foray into football on December 25, with the headline-making livestream of two NFL games: the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans.
Adding dazzling star power to the festive day of sports, Houston native Beyoncé has been drafted in to perform at halftime during the Texans game, which is scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The show will see Beyoncé perform songs from her country album Cowboy Carter live for the first time—with the NFL teasing that there will be surprise guests joining the Grammy-winning musician onstage at the NRG Stadium.
While further details on the highly anticipated performance remain a tightly under wraps, Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, told Newsweek that there will be much to look forward to.
“To Netflix’s credit, they sort of wanted to really see if there is a way to further lift and build this idea that it’s really a first time of a global large sport event that’s distributed globally by a single entity at this level and magnitude,” he said.
“I think they were thinking about how to make it even bigger and certainly adding a star of Beyoncé’s level to the day—on top of what they’re doing with some really cool openings to celebrate the holiday…. Beyonce just is a way that they thought—and we certainly agreed—that they could further build and make it a really special day.”
The show is set to have an unprecedented audience share, as it will be livestreamed to Netflix subscribers across the U.S. and in more than 190 countries. Residents in Houston and Baltimore without a Netflix subscription also will be able to watch the game on broadcast television. Additionally, subscribers to NFL+ will also be able to watch the game and halftime performance from their mobile devices and Smart TVs.
“On a global side, we think that it will be a nice additional element in that second game of how it really feels special for our fans,” Schroeder said about Beyoncé’s performance. “It’s her hometown and she’s so excited…to be part of Christmas Day on the NFL in Houston. I think was just a great confluence of the circumstances.
“You can anticipate a heck of a show. And the Texans have been great in working to make sure [the show goes smoothly]. You know, it’s their home game, but how this comes to life on the day in their building for their fans in the stadium [matters to them]. So I think it’s just going to be one heck of a show.”
Netflix previously confirmed that Beyoncé will be joined by some special guests, sparking speculation that a selection of her A-list collaborators on Cowboy Carter could be joining her on the stage.
Some of those names include Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Linda Martell, Miley Cyrus and Post Malone. Other are Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts.
This will not be Beyoncé’s first NFL halftime show, having appeared in two Super Bowls. She headlined in 2013, when she was joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. In 2016, Beyoncé joined Coldplay and Bruno Mars on the Super Bowl halftime stage, where she debuted her hit track Formation, which had been released the day before.
The NFL Christmas games this year will also feature Mariah Carey performing her enduring hit “All I Want for Christmas.” The pre-recorded performance will air twice on the day.
With the first day of Hanukkah on the night of December 25 this year, Schroeder told Newsweek that the NFL and Netflix have worked to “incorporate” elements of the holiday into the variety of entertainment on offer that day.
