The rapper has produced every Super Bowl halftime show since 2020. On Feb. 14, he takes the stage himself, and ABC has a special High Potential episode lined up after the game.
Jay-Z has spent years picking who plays the Super Bowl. This time, he picked himself.
Jay-Z will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Apple Music announced it Monday, Oct. 26, during halftime of the Cowboys and Eagles game on Monday Night Football. Its post read “GOAT’s out of the bag.” Puck’s Dave Brooks had reported a week earlier that Jay-Z chose himself for the gig.
It’s a big deal for Disney, too. Super Bowl LXI airs on ABC and ESPN, ABC’s first Super Bowl since 2006 and ESPN’s first ever.
In his statement, Jay-Z went all the way back to his 1996 debut album. He described the trip “From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl Halftime stage” as 30 years of music, work and culture.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he’d made only one request in their years working together. He wanted Jay-Z to take the halftime stage himself someday, whenever the time felt right.
Has Jay-Z ever performed at the Super Bowl?
No, which is part of why this one is such a surprise. Jay-Z has never played the halftime show, even though his company helps produce it.
His entertainment company, Roc Nation, signed on with the NFL in August 2019 to help pick and produce halftime acts, and the deal was renewed in 2024. Since then, Roc Nation has been behind every show:
2020: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez
2021: The Weeknd
2022: Dr. Dre and friends
2023: Rihanna
2024: Usher
2025: Kendrick Lamar, with SZA
2026: Bad Bunny
Jay-Z reportedly turned down the halftime show for Super Bowl LII in 2018. When the Roc Nation deal was announced in 2019, he was blunt about why he’d stayed away, calling the old selection process “fractured.”
His wife, Beyonce, headlined in 2013 and came back as a guest in 2016. No guest performers have been announced for February.
What channels will air Super Bowl LXI?
A lot of them. Disney is spreading the game across eight channels and streams, plus a Spanish-language broadcast:
ABC, ESPN, the ESPN app and Disney+: the main broadcast, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman
ESPN2: the ManningCast with Peyton and Eli Manning
ESPNU: Pat McAfee’s version of the game
NFL Network: a stats-heavy version built on Next Gen Stats
Disney Channel and Disney XD: Star Wars Funday Football, which also streams on Disney+ and the ESPN app
ESPN Deportes: the Spanish-language broadcast
Some ABC stations aren’t thrilled about that. Local station owners say splitting the audience will cut into their ad money. Disney says streaming big live events is standard practice and calls its affiliates important partners.
What’s on ABC after the Super Bowl?
High Potential, Kaitlin Olson’s hit crime show. Olson plays Morgan, a single mom with a genius-level IQ who ends up helping the police solve cases. ABC says a special episode will air right after Super Bowl LXI on ABC and Disney+.
Olson broke the news in character as Morgan during a Monday Night Football promo on Oct. 12. Here’s ABC’s promo:
ABC is calling it a “special episode.” It hasn’t set a premiere date for Season 3 beyond early 2027. Regular episodes air Tuesdays on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
When is Super Bowl LXI?
Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027, which is Valentine’s Day. The game is at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. The teams won’t be set until the conference championship games in late January.
It’s SoFi’s second Super Bowl. The stadium hosted Super Bowl LVI in February 2022, when the Rams beat the Bengals at home. That halftime show was one of Roc Nation’s, too, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Bleacher Report (Oct. 26, 2026), the announcement, Goodell’s comments and Roc Nation’s shows
OutKick (Oct. 26, 2026), Jay-Z’s statement and his Super Bowl history
Laughing Place (Oct. 2026), the eight-channel plan
BroBible (Oct. 2026), the affiliates’ concerns and Disney’s response
TheWrap (Oct. 2026), High Potential’s Super Bowl episode
CBS News (Sept. 2017), the Super Bowl LII report
Pirates & Princesses (Oct. 24, 2026), the Super Bowl channel plan
ABC on YouTube, the High Potential promo
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.