NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has neither ruled out nor confirmed whether Taylor Swift will be headlining the next Super Bowl halftime show.
The NFL representative was asked about Swift’s rumored Super Bowl future during an appearance Wednesday on the “Today” show. While speaking on the broadcast, Goodell told “Today” hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin that the NFL is definitely open to letting Swift lead her own halftime show.
“We would always love to have Taylor play. She is a special, special talent, and obviously she would be welcome at any time,” Goodell said. When asked by Guthrie whether or not a Swift-led Super Bowl performance is in the works, he then responded, “I can’t tell you anything about it.”
Guthrie was not deterred. “Is it a maybe?” the “Today” show host asked, to which Goodell affirmed, “It’s a maybe.”
The Super Bowl’s annual halftime shows are produced by Jay-Z and his company, Roc Nation. Goodell was, for his part, quick to try to shift people’s attention toward the rapper when Melvin subsequently inquired about when viewers should expect an announcement about the musical performance.
“I’m waiting on my friend Jay-Z,” Goodell joked. “It’s in his hands. I’m waiting for the smoke to come out.”
Swift has, of course, been floated as a potential Super Bowl performer ever since she began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in 2023. That relationship, as well as her presence at multiple Chiefs games over the past two years, made her an oft-repeated contender to perform at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show back in February.
That honor, however, ended up going to “Not Like Us” rapper Kendrick Lamar. In the wake of Swift’s engagement to Kelce in August, though, she has emerged once again as the internet’s No. 1 choice to lead the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
The new NFL regular season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 4, with a primetime game between the Dallas Cowboys and reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. Next year’s Super Bowl, meanwhile, is scheduled to be held on Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
If Swift does end up performing at the Super Bowl next year, then she will be the latest artist to join an impressive group of past halftime show performers. That list already includes revered legends like Paul McCartney and Prince, as well as some of Swift’s contemporaries, including Lamar, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.
While the Super Bowl typically takes place in early February, Goodell did tell “Today” show viewers that it is possible the NFL may end up pushing it back to coincide with the President’s Day holiday weekend in mid-February, so football fans would not need to worry about going to work the morning after staying up late to watch the game. All it would take, according to Goodell, is NFL teams playing one more game every regular season than they currently do.
“I think if you went to 18 weeks regular season, that would probably occur,” the NFL commissioner said. “It is possible somewhere in the calendar, could happen before that, just because of the calendar it lays out. But I think 18 weeks would get you to that point. I think it’d be a really great move.”
“I do think it makes sense for a lot of reasons,” he added. “Again, the quality of our game, and also, I think the timing works out great.”
