It’s time to get Back To Football as the NFL begins its 93rd season with a rocking celebration in its special pregame show, “NFL Kickoff 2012 presented by Bud Light” — 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 5. Multi-platinum global stars no Doubt and Mariah Carey are scheduled to perform in the 10th anniversary of NFL Kickoff.
Simulcast coverage of the 60-minute pregame show from Rockefeller Center in New York City will air from 7:30-8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and NFL Network. The live pregame broadcast also will be available via NFL Mobile from Verizon.
The musical performances are part of the celebration to kick off the 2012 season and to honor the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The Rockefeller Center show is the third Kickoff set at an iconic New York City landmark, following shows live from Times Square (2002) and Columbus Circle (2008). This is the 10th anniversary of NFL Kickoff continuing the tradition of saluting the Super Bowl champions with the opening game in their stadium in primetime.
The show leads into the season opener between theGiants and the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium (NBC, NBCSports.com, Westwood One Radio Sports, 8:30 p.m. ET).
The NBC show will feature performances by Grammy Award-winning artists Mariah Carey and No Doubt from a specially-constructed stage in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, above the iconic statue of Prometheus facing toward Fifth Avenue. Mariah Carey, who leads all solo artists with an unprecedented 18 No. 1 Hot 100 singles, recently released her new single “Triumphant (Get ‘Em).” No Doubt’s new album ‘Push And Shove” will be released September 25 and their chart-topping single “Settle Down’ is out now. More information on how fans can watch the free concert will be announced shortly.
As part of the show, 32 fans, one per team, will unveil their team’s 2012 season flag as winners of the inaugural NFL Fan Flag Challenge. The contest asked fans to submit designs with elements representative of their team’s city, community, traditions, or its fans. The winner’s inspirational concept was then used to create the team’s flag. The 32 fans will be joined by 32 NFL legends to unveil their team’s flag.
In addition to the concert and game, the festivities to kick off Week One of the NFL season include the first-ever NFL Back to Football Run in Central Park, NFL Back to Football Photo Day, NFL PLAY 60 Youth Football Festival at Chelsea Waterside Park and Kickoff Village in Times Square. More information about 2012 Kickoff Week activities may be found here.
NFL Kickoff 2012 will be executive produced by Ricky Kirshner, the Executive Producer of the Super Bowl pregame and halftime shows and directed by Gregg Gelfand.
In addition to presenting sponsor Bud Light, top tier sponsors for the NFL’s Kickoff platform include Bridgestone, GMC, Lenovo, Pepsi, Snickers, Verizon and Visa and associate sponsors include Quaker and Papa John’s.
