The Weeknd will headline the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.

The three-time Grammy award winner announced the news this past November.

“We all grow up watching the world’s biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position. I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year,” The Weeknd said in an official release.

The performance will be produced in part by Roc Nation, which is also serving as a strategic advisor for the showcase.

The Weeknd’s 2020 album, After Hours, is the No. 1 most streamed R&B album of all time, and his 80s nostalgic track “Blinding Lights” went five-times RIAA-certified platinum, breaking the record for Billboard’s longest-running No. 1 on its U.S. radio chart at 46 weeks and counting. He has also recently made a number of acting appearances, including in the 2019 film Uncut Gems.

Last year’s Super Bowl halftime show, which drew more than 104 million viewers, showcased Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

Super Bowl halftime performances started as smaller productions, but after Michael Jackson headlined the 1993 show, the league made a more conscious effort to secure big name performers during the longer-than-normal halftime break.

Performances were also crafted around a theme until 2002, but following U2’s tribute to the lives lost in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, themes were dropped from the halftime performances. Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Prince highlight a list of some of the biggest names to perform at halftime of football’s biggest show.

This year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the league is reportedly planning for a 20% seating capacity at the upcoming Super Bowl, which is set to take place in Tampa, Fla.

The game itself is set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Some good news for football fans in Tampa Bay and beyond.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday the league plans to allow fans in the stands at Super Bowl LV, according to multiple reports.

The Super Bowl is set for Feb. 7, 2021, at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero says Goodell made the announcement after NFL owners “unanimously approved” a contingency plan that allows for the playoff field to expand from 14 to 16 teams if “meaningful games are canceled because of COVID-19.”

Goodell says teams will not be re-seeded, however, according to Pelissero.

“Goodell reiterates the goal is to have all teams complete a full schedule in 17 weeks and play the Super Bowl — with fans in the stands — on Feb. 7 in Tampa,” Pelissero tweeted. “Today’s resolution only triggers if one or more games impacting playoff spots or seeding are canceled because of COVID-19.”

Similarly, ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reported Goodell “reaffirmed” the NFL’s Super Bowl plan for fans attending the game. Mortenson added the league already announced “the plan for a 20 percent capacity for Super Bowl fans.”

Goodell reaffirmed NFL is planning for fans on Feb. 7 in Tampa for the Super Bowl but not counting on a vaccine at this moment.
The league already had announced the plan for a 20 percent capacity for Super Bowl fans so that does not chance at this juncture.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) November 10, 2020

Last month, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the NFL anticipated a 20 percent seating capacity. If that pans out for the February 2021 event, it comes out to a little more than 13,000 fans in the stands for a stadium that seats about 66,000 people.

RELATED: NFL could limit stadium capacity at Super Bowl LV in Tampa

Super Bowl organizers say details haven’t been finalized and are subject to change based on the latest health and safety guidelines available in February.

In a statement, the NFL said: “there is no set capacity figure at this time.” But one such capacity scenario includes a 20-percent cap, the league continued.

“The safety of the public, attendees, players and personnel continues to be our foremost priority. We are working on a host of Super Bowl plans, including gameday, in conjunction with the host committee and the appropriate local and county public health and government officials.

“There is no set capacity figure at this time as we continue to monitor the ongoing pandemic with more than three months to go before the Superbowl on Feburary 7.

You can watch Super Bowl LV live right here on 10 Tampa Bay on Feb. 7, 2021.

Courtesy of wtsp.com
Author: 10 Tampa Bay

The Weeknd will bring his popular falsetto vocals to the 2021 Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.

NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation announced Thursday that the three-time Grammy Award winner will be the headline performer on Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

RELATED: NFL Super Bowl locations: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 including dates

The Weeknd said he’s humbled by the opportunity. He posted a photo of himself with the logo of the halftime show on social media to announce the news.

“We all grow up watching Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position,” the singer said in a statement. “I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage.”

The Weeknd broke though into mainstream with his smash hit “Can’t Feel My Face” that was featured on his second studio album, “Beauty Behind the Madness,” which topped the Billboard 200 in 2015 and won a Grammy. He’s had three other chart-topping albums including his recent offering “After Hours,” which was released in March.

Earlier this year, The Weeknd’s hit single “Blinding Lights” became his fifth song to peak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He’s also won Grammys for his album “Starboy” and the song “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey).”

“The Weeknd has introduced a sound all his own,” said Jay-Z, founder of Roc Nation. “His soulful uniqueness has defined a new generation of greatness in music and artistry. This is an extraordinary moment in time and the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show is going to be an extraordinary experience with an extraordinary performer.”

Roc Nation and Emmy-nominated producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. The game and halftime show will air live on CBS.

It’s the second year of collaboration between the NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation.

“We are thrilled to have The Weeknd join us in Tampa Bay on the Pepsi Halftime Stage,” said Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer. “Halftime show performances have a history of excellence and creativity and we look forward to seeing what he will bring to Super Bowl LV.”

The Weeknd, whose real name is, Abel Tesfaye, joins a list of celebrated musicians who have played during Super Bowl halftime shows, including Madonna, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Katy Perry, U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and last year’s duo of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.

Courtesy of ABC11.com

The 2021 Super Bowl will look and feel very different from past Super Bowls. Apart from not having a full stadium (the league disputes that a decision has been made to fill Raymond James Stadium to only 20-percent capacity), Sports Business Daily reports that multiple major events associated with Super Bowl week will be virtual only.

Opening Night, for example, will have no ticketed access and all-virtual player interviews, in accordance with the agreement reached between the NFL and NFL Players Association. Likewise the NFL Honors awards show will be a virtual, made-for-TV production, without a red carpet or tickets to the event.

“Plans continue to evolve,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Sports Business Daily in confirming the changes to Opening Night and NFL Honors.

None of this should surprise anyone. The usual activity of Super Bowl week simply won’t be happening this year. And it’s impossible to imagine the full week of broadcasts and player interviews and everything else that normally happens in the host city.

Hopefully, it’s a one-year-only deviation from normalcy.

Courtesy of NBCSports.com

The NFL is moving forward with plans for a reduced-capacity Super Bowl LV, to be played Feb. 7 even if the league ultimately adds an 18th week to its regular season, ESPN reported.

One other note to the limited seating now expected at Super Bowl LV: If a Week 18 is added to this regular season, the off week would be eliminated and Super Bowl LV would stay on February 7. pic.twitter.com/wANGPM1Z7f

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 28, 2020

At this point, the NFL is planning to hold capacity to 20% at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, which normally holds 65,000 fans. With temporary seating, its capacity could have been enlarged to nearly 75,000. Fans will be in pods 6 feet apart and masks will be required.

“The safety of the public, attendees, players and personnel continues to be our foremost priority. We are working on a host of Super Bowl plans, including gameday, in conjunction with the host committee and the appropriate local and county public health and government officials,” the NFL said in a statement.
Editor’s Picks

“There is no set capacity figure at this time as we continue to monitor the ongoing pandemic with more than three months to go before the Super Bowl on February 7. There have been 19 teams that have already or have been authorized by public authorities to host regular season games. The average has been around 20 percent with fans seated in pods and everyone wearing face coverings. Among the scenarios we are exploring is a capacity of around that figure but we anticipate it could grow as we get closer to the game.”

During the regular season, the NFL has left attendance decisions to home teams in conjunction with state and local authorities. Half of the league’s teams have had paid attendance for at least one game; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hosted an average of 10,961 fans at two home games.

As it maneuvers through the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL has kept open the possibility of pushing back the Super Bowl for up to four weeks in order to complete its regular season. But it would prefer to keep it on schedule if at all possible, and at this point all rescheduled games have been fit under the existing 17-week structure.

If the league needs an extra week to finish the regular season, it will eliminate the extra week that is normally scheduled between the Super Bowl and the NFC and AFC Championship Games.

The NFL’s biggest event of the year could be pushed back all the way to March if necessary, under a contingency plan that Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy confirmed existed.

Both Murphy and Super Bowl organizers hope the Super Bowl is played on Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. But, Murphy’s comments suggest the game could conceivably be played as late as March 7 if coronavirus pandemic conditions warranted.

The NFL already went ahead and canceled the Pro Bowl to put more focus into the postseason. It’s the first time that’s happened since 1949.

Murphy’s Super Bowl LV remarks came during a virtual pep rally Tuesday. He is the first member of an NFL front office to publicly confirm that contingency plan.

10 Tampa Bay is the official media partner of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee. President and CEO Rob Higgins sent the following statement on Thursday:

“We’re in constant communication with our great partners at the NFL and our collective focus is totally on February 7th at this time. We’re event planners and are designed to be flexible, but as of today, we’re continuing to plan for an unforgettable Super Bowl that takes place on February 7th at Raymond James Stadium.”

The pandemic has already forced the league to shuffle more than a dozen games, and there’s a possibility that more games will have to be postponed.

At the end of September, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced his support for any Florida NFL teams’ decisions to allow fans at games.

“We’re gonna be able to host a Super Bowl in February,” he said then. “We expect to do a full Super Bowl. And, we’re gonna show that we’ll be able to do that.”

Around the same time, NFL leaders in charge of planning Super Bowl LV voiced their hopes that fans will be in attendance for the big game at Raymond James Stadium.

“Our hope is going to be to fill the stadium with fans,” Jon Barker said in September. Barker is the NFL’s head of live event production.

WTHR contributed to this report.

The NFL season has already seen multiple games postponed and delayed due to COVID-19 outbreaks and with more problems on the horizon, Super Bowl LV could be facing a delay.

While the NFL hasn’t needed to reschedule its biggest event since Super Bowl XXXVI, which was postponed as part of the league’s schedule adjustments following the Sept. 11 attacks, it might be forced to take drastic action this season.

RELATED: NFL Super Bowl locations: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 including dates

NFL schedule: Can the NFL postpone Super Bowl LV?

As we’ve seen this season, the NFL does everything it can to avoid sweeping changes to its schedule. When the Tennessee Titans had a COVID-19 outbreak before Week 4, the league rescheduled the Steelers-Titans game. We saw the first major adjustment the following Sunday, due to the New England Patriots’ outbreak, when eight teams were impacted by changes to the schedule.

The NFL has done everything it can to avoid creating a Week 18, an additional week during the regular season to account for games postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks. However, following the cancellation of the 2020 Pro Bowl, it’s evident Goodell and league officials are preparing for more problems.

With the number of new coronavirus cases spiking across the United States and an alarming number of players landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the pandemic is only getting worse. So while the NFL has found ways to buy time and stuck to its schedule for the NFL Playoffs, it seems evident that won’t last for long.

In fact, the fallout could be far more significant than we realized. During a virtual interview, Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy revealed Super Bowl LV could be pushed back by a month.

“We could move the Super Bowl back as far as four weeks.” Mark Murphy during the @packers broadcast tonight. pic.twitter.com/603uJ8ovc2

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) October 17, 2020

There was already a chance Super Bowl LV could be played without fans in attendance, something the NFL was already thinking about in May. This also isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the Super Bowl potentially being moved to March, but that scenario was only considered possible if the regular season was delayed.

RELATED: Super Bowl LV start time, channel, date, and the halftime show

The NFL needs to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios, which includes far larger outbreaks across the league. With each passing week, as more teams come off their bye, there will be even less flexibility for the league to work with. Even postponing one Week 5 game impacted eight teams and the fallout would be more significant for any future adjustments.

However, the NFL does have some flexibility here. Super Bowl LV, scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Florida on Feb. 7, 2021, is an open-ended event. As detailed by former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, the NFL has accommodations in Tampa reserved for a full month. So, if Super Bowl LV needs to be moved from Feb. 7 to March 7, or any Sunday in between, it can do that.

In a year where the NFL’s revenue was projected to take a massive hit this year due to the pandemic and steep cuts in profits generated from stadiums, the league needs a full season. It will be even more dependent on the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl LV, especially.

If hosting the playoffs in regional bubbles and moving the Super Bowl back multiple weeks ensures a full season, the NFL will do it. It would obviously have major ramifications for teams on the road to Super Bowl LV, but that’s only fitting for 2020.

Super Bowl LV is, for now, still scheduled to be played on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium. Anyone who wishes to attend a Super Bowl in the near future now can start planning.

The NFL has announced where the Super Bowl will be played for the next five seasons, with next year’s game being played in Miami. The state of Florida will also host the Super Bowl a year later in Tampa.

Here are the future Super Bowl locations for the next four seasons:

• Super Bowl LV: February 7, 2021, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
• Super Bowl LVI: February 6, 2022, LA Stadium at Hollywood Park, Los Angeles, California
• Super Bowl LVII: February 5, 2023, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
• Super Bowl LVIII: February 4, 2024, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana

Every stadium except LA Stadium at Hollywood Park, which is currently being constructed and plans to open in 2020, has hosted a Super Bowl before.