Roger Goodell Won’t Confirm Jay-Z Super Bowl Report

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wouldn’t confirm Jay-Z‘s reported Super Bowl halftime booking when he faced questions about the possible performance at an October 21 news conference.

Speaking at a New York news conference after league owners met, Goodell said he was unaware of a leak and had been in the committee meetings, Front Office Sports reported.

“So I’m not sure it’s a leak. We haven’t announced anything. Until we do, we won’t make any comment on that.”

Goodell was addressing a Puck report that Jay-Z would perform. His answer did not rule out the rapper, but it did not turn that report into an official booking, either.

Jay-Z had left the door open at the January 2024 red-carpet premiere of “The Book of Clarence.” He told Entertainment Tonight that choosing himself too early would have been selfish. “Maybe one year,” he said.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation organizes the halftime show through its partnership with the league. That role involves more people than the artist whose name is now being discussed for the stage.

In 2024, Seth Dudowsky was the NFL’s head of music and its point person for NFL musical events. He also worked as the league’s liaison with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. He told the Associated Press the goal was to let artists express themselves while keeping the show relevant to both the culture of its host city and what was happening more broadly.

Snoop Dogg, who performed in 2022, credited Jay-Z and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for helping open the halftime stage to Hip-Hop. “Shout out to Jay-Z for changing the climate. Roger Goodell for giving him an opportunity,” he told AP.

An unnamed source told the Daily Mail in September that Jay-Z could perform with guests if organizers could not secure a single superstar, as AllHipHop reported.

That earlier account described a possible fallback plan, not an accepted booking.

Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.