Inside the Halftime Music Strategy For the NFL’s International Games: ‘The Biggest Challenge Is Expectation’
When the NFL prepared to kick off its 2026-2027 season with an opening game in Melbourne, Australia on Sept.
10, Tim Tubito was gearing up for the beginning of his own journey of a season.
The NFL’s senior director of global game presentation and entertainment, Tubito had an ambitious slate ahead of him: the league was planning its most ambitious international slate of games ever, with its largest group of major halftime headliners taking stages around the world.
Related Jonas Brothers Bring Showtime to NFL Melbourne Game Hilary Duff to Receive Outstanding Pop Tour of the Year Award at 2026 Billboard Live Music Summit Judge Rules Woman Accused of Shooting at Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Home Mentally Fit to Stand Trial So when the Jonas Brothers hit the halftime stage in Melbourne that day, it was the first of what will now become seven major halftime shows the NFL hosts in seven international cities on four different continents around the world, up from six shows in five cities last year, and marking the NFL’s major foray into this kind of event, having hosted the biggest stage in the world for decades in the annual Super Bowl Halftime Show.
“The success we had last year internationally, frankly, that was kind of a test run,” Tubito tells Billboard .
“We were going to see how that was received, and it was received really well.
And so, as the league expands, the idea is to continue to expand with it.” With yesterday’s (Oct.
10) announcement that The Warning would be performing the game in Mexico City on Nov.
22, that expanded slate is now set: the Jonas Brothers played in Melbourne Sept.
10; Pedro Sampaio & Ricky Martin performed at the game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sept.
27; Ayra Starr headlined the game in London between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars earlier today (Oct.
11); and Burna Boy (Paris, Oct.
25), Manuel Turizo (Madrid, Nov.
8) and Cage the Elephant (Munich, Germany, Nov.
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