Jay-Z Picks Himself for Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show (Getty Images)
Roc Nation has produced the halftime show since 2019, and the NFL extended that deal in 2024. Because he keeps putting it off a little bit, “I guess I was more excited than anything, maybe a little surprised,.
“No pressure,” he said. The league has wanted this for years, he said, and he first raised it when the partnership began. It was something I asked him about at the time when we first started this, and he said, ‘Yeah, we’ll see. The timing, he said, came from Jay-Z. “I think the fact that he’s in his 30th anniversary year of his first album, he just finished his tour, it’s L.A., he’s at that point as the GOAT that he’s ready for it,” Goodell said.
TMZ’s photographer asked the obvious question first. Did he feel any pressure? Jay-Z kept it short. “We’ve always wanted this to happen at some point. Let’s see what happens. But it was clear he wanted it to happen,” Goodell explained. He added that Jay-Z was direct about it. The twist is hard to miss. The person who helped shape recent lineups is now the one on stage.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added context on The Ebro Show on Tuesday.