“2016 NFL Kickoff Presented By Hyundai” to Celebrate Start of the NFL Season and Denver Broncos Super Bowl Championship

The NFL kicks off its 97th season with "2016 NFL KICKOFF PRESENTED BY HYUNDAI" – 7:30 PM ET Thursday, September 8. Multi-platinum global stars DIERKS BENTLEY and ONEREPUBLIC will perform live at Civic Center Park in Denver, it was announced Monday night during NBC's national broadcast of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.    

Performances by Bentley and OneRepublic will be featured in simulcast coverage of the 60-minute pregame show from Denver from 7:30 – 8:30 PM ET on NBC and NFL Network. The live pregame broadcast also will be available via NFL Mobile from Verizon. 

Television's most-watched studio show, NBC's Football Night in America, will be live on-site in Denver with its full team -- BOB COSTAS, DAN PATRICK, Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach TONY DUNGY, and two-time Super Bowl winner RODNEY HARRISON, along with NFL Insiders MIKE FLORIO and PETER KING. The NFL Kickoff Game on NBC will be called by AL MICHAELS, CRIS COLLINSWORTH and MICHELE TAFOYA.

The show leads into the season opener between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos in a rematch of Super Bowl 50 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver (NBC, NBC Sports Live Extra on desktop and tablet, NFL Mobile from Verizon on smartphone, Westwood One Radio Sports, 8:30 PM ET). It marks the first Super Bowl rematch played on Kickoff Weekend since 1970 (Kansas City-Minnesota). Grammy-nominated performer ANDRA DAY will sing the National Anthem.  

The musical performances are part of the celebration to kick off the 2016 season and to honor the Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos.  This is the 15th consecutive Kickoff celebration to start the season and the 12th time the NFL has saluted the Super Bowl champions with the opening game in their stadium on a Thursday in primetime.