Burna Boy is heading back to Stade de France, and this time he’s sharing the night with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints.
The Nigerian Afrobeats star will headline the halftime show at the NFL’s first ever regular season game in France on Oct. 25. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. local time, which means 9:30 a.m. EDT for fans tuning in from the States.
The venue is what makes this booking land. In April 2025, Burna Boy became the first African artist to headline a solo concert at Stade de France, selling all 80,000 tickets.
Walking back into that same building for an American football game feels less like a new gig and more like a return to home turf.
He clearly sees it that way too. “Paris gave me one of the biggest nights of my career, and to walk back into Stade de France for a moment like this means everything,” he said.
He also framed the show as bigger than one set. “The NFL is bringing something to France that has never happened here before, and I get to stand in the middle of it representing African music and I intend to give the people a show they will not forget,” he added.
That line about representing African music matters, because this is a stage built to introduce a sport to a new audience, and he’s positioning Afrobeats right at the center of that introduction.
From the league’s side, the logic is pretty simple. Tim Tubito, the NFL’s senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment, pointed to Burna Boy’s history with Paris and his global reach as the reasons he got the call.
“The first NFL game in France deserves a halftime moment that matches the occasion, and there is no artist better suited to it than Burna Boy,” Tubito said.
It’s a smart read on the room. The NFL is trying to win over a French crowd that grew up on football of the other kind, and booking someone who already packed this exact stadium on his own name is about as safe a bet as the league could make.
Paris is just one stop in a much wider push. Burna Boy’s set is one of seven halftime shows planned across the NFL’s 2026 International Games, which stretch across seven countries and four continents.
The Jonas Brothers will play Melbourne, Pedro Sampaio and Ricky Martin take Rio de Janeiro, Cage The Elephant head to Munich and The Warning perform in Mexico City.
London gets Ayra Starr, which means two Nigerian artists are on the international slate. For Afrobeats fans, that’s a clear sign of how far the genre’s pull has traveled, from club playlists to some of the biggest sporting stages on the planet.
Burna Boy’s résumé already includes a Grammy, which he won for Best Global Music Album with Twice as Tall in 2021.
A halftime slot is a different kind of test though, with a tight window and a crowd that didn’t necessarily buy a ticket to see him.
French viewers can catch the game on France Télévisions and beIN Sports. Now the wait begins to see what Burna Boy packs into those few minutes back on the Stade de France stage.
