What Time Does the Super Bowl Start? National Anthem, Halftime Show, Performers, Announcers and How to Watch

The Super Bowl doesn't really start at kick-off. It starts earlier—when the kettle goes on, the group chat wakes up, and someone asks, for the fifth year running, whether '6.30pm' means exactly 6.30pm or the looser, more American version of time.

For Super Bowl LX, the NFL's answer is familiar: the game is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm ET on Sunday 8 February at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. In reality, that's usually the target, not the moment the ball actually moves—television is a hungry beast, and it gets fed first.​

Still, if you're planning your evening—whether you're in the UK doing the late-night coffee calculus or in the US timing snacks to the pre-game spectacle—here's what matters: when it starts, who's singing, who's performing, who's calling the action, and how to watch it without losing your mind.

What Time Does The Super Bowl Start?

Kick-off for Super Bowl LX is scheduled for 6.30pm ET (3.30pm local time in California). The game is being played at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, and it's the venue's second Super Bowl after hosting Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

The national anthem is part of the televised pre-game run-in, meaning it happens shortly before the game begins rather than at some separate 'concert' time. Halftime, meanwhile, is a moving target: it depends on how the first half actually unfolds, but it typically lands somewhere around the 7.45pm to 8.15pm ET window in most Super Bowl schedules. And, as ever, Super Bowl halftime is longer than a standard NFL halftime because it has to accommodate a full-scale music production—stage build, performance, stage strike, the lot.

If you're in the UK, that 6.30pm ET kick-off translates into a very late start—more of a 'commitment' than an evening's entertainment. But that's part of the event's odd charm: the Super Bowl has become one of the few US spectacles that pulls global viewers into its time zone, not the other way around.

Super Bowl National Anthem Singer And Performers

The NFL has put together a pre-game vocal line-up designed to feel both mainstream and moment-making. Charlie Puth is scheduled to sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner'. Brandi Carlile will perform 'America the Beautiful'. Coco Jones is set to sing 'Lift Every Voice and Sing'.​

The headline halftime slot belongs to Bad Bunny, who will lead the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. He's not new to the Super Bowl stage—he previously appeared as a guest performer during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in 2020 alongside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

This is, inevitably, the point where the Super Bowl's football purists do that weary little sigh and pretend they're above the pop culture theatre. But the NFL knows exactly what it's doing. These performances aren't a side dish anymore; they are part of the meal, engineered for the viral economy as much as for the crowd in the stadium.

Announcers And How To Watch

In the US, Super Bowl LX will be broadcast on NBC, with streaming available on Peacock. USA Today also lists NFL+ and several live TV streaming services among the viewing options, including YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.​

NBC's commentary team is led by Mike Tirico on play-by-play with Cris Collinsworth as analyst. Sideline reporting will come from Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung, with Terry McAulay serving as rules analyst. For NBC, it's not just another big game: its own press materials highlight that Tirico is calling his first Super Bowl, and that Maria Taylor is hosting the network's Super Bowl LX pregame show and the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation.

NBC's pregame coverage begins at 1pm ET, building towards the final half-hour before kick-off, when team introductions and on-field performances take over. It's a marathon broadcast dressed up as a party—and like most marathons, it's easier if you know when to show up for the bits you actually care about.​