Ayra Starr NFL halftime show: kick-off time, how to watch and why London matters
Ayra Starr will play the Ayra Starr NFL halftime show in London this Sunday, 11 October, when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The league confirmed the booking in August. With the game two days away, here is what is confirmed, when it starts, how to watch from Nigeria, the UK and the US, and why this slot matters for Afrobeats.
By Editorial Team
What we know
- The date and venue (FACT). The NFL says Ayra Starr will headline halftime at the Eagles v Jaguars game on Sunday, 11 October, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London.
- Kick-off time (FACT). The game starts at 2.30pm BST, which is 9.30am Eastern Time in the US and also 2.30pm in Lagos, because Nigeria and the UK share the same clock in October. Halftime usually comes about an hour and a half after kick-off, but the NFL has not given an exact time for the show.
- UK broadcast (FACT). The league says her full halftime performance will be shown live and free to air in the UK on Channel 5, and on Sky Sports.
- One of seven shows (FACT). The London show is one of a record seven halftime shows at the 2026 NFL International Games, staged in seven countries on four continents and sponsored by American Express.
- In her words (FACT). In the NFL’s announcement, Ayra Starr said that bringing her album Starrgirl “to the NFL global stage is a dream come true”.
Why the Ayra Starr NFL halftime show matters
For an American football game, halftime is normally a short break. At international games, the league has turned it into a showcase for local stars. In the announcement, Tim Tubito, the NFL’s senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment, said London is “one of the most influential music cities in the world”. He added that African music “has been at the center of that conversation for years now”.
That is a notable thing for a US sports league to say. London is where Afrobeats first built a big audience outside Africa, through radio, clubs and the Nigerian and Ghanaian diaspora. Our Afrobeats chart tracker follows how songs from the genre now regularly reach the UK top 40.
Some Nigerian websites describe Sunday’s show as the first time an African artist has headlined an NFL halftime show. The NFL’s announcement does not say that, and we have not been able to confirm it, so we are not repeating it as fact. It is safer to say that Ayra Starr is one of a growing group of African stars the league has booked for its international games.
Burna Boy is also on the list. As we reported in our story on Burna Boy’s October bookings, he is due to headline halftime at the NFL Paris game on 25 October. That gives Nigerian artists two NFL halftime slots in Europe in the space of two weeks.
Where Ayra Starr is in her career
The timing suits her. Ayra Starr released her third studio album, Starrgirl, on 14 August through Mavin Records and Republic Records, the NFL notes. The album includes collaborations with Zayn, Leon Thomas and Wizkid. Her video with Zayn came out this month, and we looked at it in Ayra Starr and Zayn’s “Heaven Baby” video.
The league lists her career figures as more than seven billion streams worldwide and one billion YouTube views since her debut in 2021. These are the NFL’s own numbers, quoted from its announcement. She has two Grammy nominations for Best African Music Performance, has won the BET Award for Best International Act and has played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
She is also on one of this week’s other big releases. She duets with FOLA on “treat u right”, a song from his album 9, which came out today. We covered the album in our FOLA 9 album preview.
How this compares with the Super Bowl
The London show is not the Super Bowl halftime show, and it is a much shorter set. The Super Bowl show is the NFL’s biggest musical event of the year, and it is chosen in a different way, as our explainer on how the Super Bowl halftime performer is chosen sets out.
International game shows still reach a big audience. They are shown on UK free-to-air TV, broadcast around the world and clipped for social media, and many of the people watching would never buy a ticket to an Afrobeats concert. For an artist, that is the main appeal.
How to watch
- UK: live and free on Channel 5, and on Sky Sports, according to the NFL.
- US: the game is on in the morning, at 9.30am ET. The league’s announcement did not say which channel will show it.
- Nigeria and the rest of Africa: the NFL has not announced a broadcast partner for the region. NFL Game Pass on DAZN usually streams international games, but check that it is available where you are before you rely on it.
- Tickets: the NFL’s official London page at nfl.com/london has ticket details.
What we do not know yet
The NFL has not published a setlist, a running time or a list of guests for the show. We do not know whether any of the artists featured on Starrgirl will join her. We will not guess until something is announced.
What happens next
- Sunday 11 October, 2.30pm BST and WAT: Eagles v Jaguars kicks off, with Ayra Starr at halftime.
- 25 October: Burna Boy headlines halftime at the NFL Paris game.
- We will report on the performance itself, including any guests, after Sunday’s game.
More Afrobeats news: Afrobeats.
Photo credits: Featured image: Ayra Starr performing at the Shoke Shoke Festival, 2023. Photo: Capital FM Kenya, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Source. In-article image: The Jacksonville Jaguars playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during their game against the Miami Dolphins, October 2021. Photo: Tony Hisgett, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Source.
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