Super Bowl 2026: Viewers guide for NBC broadcast, halftime show and more

Cris Collinsworth had a memorable call the last time the Seahawks and Patriots faced off in a Super Bowl. Collinsworth, working alongside play-by-play man Al Michaels on the NBC broadcast, had this to say when Seattle coach Pete Carroll called a pass on second down at the 1-yard line instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch with Super Bowl XLIX on the line: "I'm sorry, but I can't believe the call." 

This will be Collinsworth's sixth Super Bowl — fifth involving the Patriots — and his first with Mike Tirico, aka the busiest man in sports broadcasting. In addition to calling his first Super Bowl, Tirico, a Queens native, will quarterback NBC's coverage from Italy for the Winter Olympics. 

Tirico told Newsday last week that he was "excited" about his super-sized schedule. "And the fact that nobody's ever been fortunate enough to have this opportunity, I just am very thankful to the people I work for at NBC to entrust me with these two big events," he said. "I just love the fact that we found a way to make them both work here for Super Bowl Sunday and then continue off for the last 13 days in the Olympics over in Milan."

The Super Bowl and Olympics are also streaming on Peacock. 

For those superstitious Patriots fans wondering what their favorite team's record is in Super Bowls with Collinsworth on the broadcast, it's 2-2. 

SHE SAID, SHE SAID

Sunday's game will feature a rare journalistic feat: two female sideline reporters for the Super Bowl. Melissa Stark, working her second Super Bowl, will be joined by Kaylee Hartung, making her Big Game debut. NBC also had an all-female sideline reporting team for their last Super Bowl in 2022 when Michele Tafoya — who recently announced a Senate run in Minnesota — and Kathryn Tappen drew the assignment. Fox also had two female sideline reporters for Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in 2014 with Erin Andrews and Pam Oliver. 

It will be the start of a very busy February for Hartung, who has been a sideline reporter for Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football" since its debut in 2022. Like Tirico, it will be Santa Clara to Milan for Hartung as she will be a reporter for the aerials/moguls freestyle skiing competition at the Winter Olympics. 

PREGAMING AT ALCATRAZ

Talk about breaking free from the traditional pregame show format.

NBC announced it will broadcast part of its Super Bowl pregame show from Alcatraz, the island that used to be a site of a maximum security federal prison. The island is now a popular museum with more than 1 million visitors each year.

This will mark the first time there has ever been a live broadcast from there. NBC will air multiple segments of its show from Alcatraz with Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and Jac Collinsworth on site. 

NBC will have traditional aspects of the pregame, too, with Maria Taylor hosting the five-hour show. She also will handle the Lombardi Trophy presentation. Jason Garrett, Devin McCourty, Chris Simms and Matthew Berry will provide analysis. 

HISTORIC HALFTIME SHOW

Fresh off making history at the Grammys, Bad Bunny is ready to make more history at the Super Bowl.

The Puerto Rican rapper and singer became the first artist to win Album of the Year with an all-Spanish-language album and is expected to become the first artist to primarily rap and sing in Spanish as the Super Bowl halftime show headliner.

You can wager on everything from what song he will sing first to how many total songs as well as which guest stars will join him on stage (Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin are both at -125). The favorite at -250? Cardi B, who was part of the Patriots' AFC championship celebration in Denver alongside New England receiver Stefon Diggs. The rapper collaborated with Bad Bunny on "I Like It." 

GREEN DAY BY THE BAY

The halftime show is the main event of Super Bowl Sunday, but there are other performances as well. Kicking things off will be the Bay Area rock band Green Day. According to the NFL, the band will headline the opening ceremony, celebrating six decades of the Super Bowl's history, “with the band helping usher generations of Super Bowl MVPs onto the field.”

After Green Day, the musical acts are as follows:  

• "America the Beautiful" by Brandi Carlile

• "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by CoCo Jones

• National anthem by Charlie Puth 

For those keeping time at home, the over/under for Puth's rendition of the anthem is set at around 2 minutes, depending on the betting site. For reference, the average national anthem performance at the Super Bowl is around 1 minute, 50 seconds to 2 minutes. The longest? Alicia Keys' 2:36 in 2013. The shortest? Neil Diamond's 1:02 in 1987. Long Island's Billy Joel also had two of the shorter renditions, going 1:30 in 1989 and 2007. 

RUFF AUDIENCE

If you like underdog stories, check out Puppy Bowl XXII at 2 p.m. on Sunday as "Team Ruff" and "Team Fluff" duke it out for the . . . wait for it . . . "Lombarky" trophy. 

One hundred and fifty rescue dogs from 72 shelters in 36 states/territories will compete. The game will be televised on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, HBO Max and discovery+.

A new wrinkle to this year's action is a special halftime exhibition game for senior dogs. Yep, you guessed it: It's "Team Oldies" vs. "Team Goldies." 

There's also the "Great American Rescue Bowl," which partners with North Shore Animal League America and is hosted by Beth Stern. It will air from noon to 2 p.m. on Great American Family and GFam+, with streaming available on Great American Pure Flix. The rosters are littered with cute names, from "Steph Purry," "LeBark James," "Paw-trick Ewing," "Lionel Meowssi" and "Novak Pupavic" to a couple former Mets-inspired ones in "Pete Alonsnuggle" and "Jeff McHeel" to this great one: "Wayne Fetchsky."