NBC Skips Soundgarden Halftime Show at NFL Opener and Fans Are Not Having It

The NFL season opener in Seattle had all the makings of a memorable night, especially at halftime. Soundgarden’s surviving members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd took the field alongside Taylor Momsen and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready for a tribute performance. It was the kind of moment music and football fans circle on the calendar. There was just one problem: if you were watching on NBC, you never saw it.

Instead of airing the halftime set, the network went to studio analysis, cutting away from the performance entirely. The national anthem featuring McCready did make the broadcast, which made the snub sting even more for viewers. Fans responded on social media with frustration and disbelief, with one writing that NBC“had one job”and another calling it“truly incomprehensible”that the network chose commentary over a historic performance. It’s a familiar feeling too, since NBC also skipped Ozzy Osbourne’s halftime show four years ago.

So the question now is whether this becomes a real conversation between networks and fans, or whether it just fades until the next skipped set. Half time performances are often the most talked-about part of a big game, and when fans feel like they missed out on a piece of music history, the frustration tends to stick around. Do you think NBC should have aired the Soundgarden halftime show? Let us know in the comments.