U2 Thanksgiving Eve halftime is the latest addition to a holiday calendar already behaving like a streaming-service spreadsheet. The band announced October 20 that it will headline the halftime show during the NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix. The Green Bay Packers face the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday, November 25, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern.
This is a newly announced television performance, separate from U2’s previously announced 2027 tour. It is not a review of a show that has happened. The exact halftime start depends on the progress of the game, so 8 p.m. is the kickoff time, not a promise that Bono appears before anyone has completed the first quarter.
The announcement places the performance within the band’s 50th year together. For a group whose songs have occupied radios, stadiums and several generations of family arguments about volume, a holiday football audience is another large communal room. Gen X has reached the age when the band from the cassette collection can become part of the official Thanksgiving logistics.
Our take: the scheduling is the interesting cultural detail. Thanksgiving used to arrive with predictable television furniture. Streaming now treats the holiday as a series of live appointments, each with its own platform and publicity campaign. Somewhere a relative is preparing to ask which remote opens Netflix, and that person may be all of us by dessert.
A halftime set also asks something different from a full concert. It has to communicate quickly to people who came for the music, people who came for football and people who are mostly waiting for the kitchen. That makes song selection and pacing worth watching, but the announcement does not establish a setlist. Fan wish lists remain fan wish lists.
For now, the confirmed plan is U2, SoFi, Netflix and November 25. Check the official event information closer to broadcast for availability and timing. The performance has not yet earned a standing ovation or a furious think piece. The internet will provide both immediately afterward, probably before anybody locates the cranberry sauce.
Sources and photograph
U2 official announcement, October 20. Netflix Tudum announcement.
Archival photograph of U2 performing May 14, 2017, in Seattle; not the upcoming Netflix halftime show. Photo: U2start; CC BY 2.0. Display copy resized. Where applicable, the resized photograph retains the stated ShareAlike license. Original photograph and rights record. Image-use terms.
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