NFL Taps Ayra Starr for Landmark London Halftime Performance
Ayra Starr will headline the halftime show at the NFL London game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars on October 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. She becomes the first Afrobeats artist to take on this role for an international NFL game. The performance is part of a record seven halftime shows this season and will air on Channel 5 and Sky Sports.
Starr's upcoming London set follows the September release of her third studio album, Starrgirl, which reached No. 4 on Billboard's World Albums Chart. She recently performed at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park on September 27, part of a busy promotional stretch ahead of the October fixture.
The NFL's 2025 international slate includes seven halftime performances across games in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Mexico City, Munich, and Paris, in addition to London. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host two October games; the Colts-Commanders matchup on October 4 will feature a separate halftime act announced at a later date.
This booking signals the NFL's growing recognition of Afrobeats' global commercial reach, potentially expanding the genre's visibility among mainstream sports audiences in the UK and beyond. Starr's platform could introduce her music to casual viewers who might not otherwise encounter Afrobeats, while also reinforcing London's role as a cultural bridge between African music and Western markets. The choice may influence future international halftime bookings and reflect broader shifts in how major sports leagues program entertainment for diverse, global fanbases.