Update: During her concert in Los Angeles Saturday night, Adele said she turned down the NFL’s offer to headline the Super Bowl in 2017. “First of all, I’m not doing the Super Bowl,” she said (via Variety). “I mean, come on, that show is not about music. And I don’t really — I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no.”

When a 28-year-old Bruno Mars performed with Red Hot Chili Peppers at MetLife Stadium in 2014, he became the youngest musician ever to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. If new rumors turn out to be true, he could be sharing that distinction with an unlikely name: Adele.



According to what an unidentified NFL source told The Sun (via Billboard), the folks tasked with organizing the halftime show for Super Bowl LI “are doing absolutely everything they can to try to persuade her to sign up. She’s sold out every date on her tour, everyone wants a piece of her and they know they can bank on her bringing in the viewers.”

It’s true that rating would almost certainly be high if the 25 singer took the stage for a national broadcast even like the NFL championship game, but the fit does seem a bit odd. Recent headliners have been rock bands like Coldplay and The Who or pop superstars like Katy Perry and Beyoncé. Sure, Adele falls into the latter category, but her soul stylings and generally more ballad-based sound might feel like a mismatch for the Super Bowl at first blush.

Still, as much as the NFL might want the ratings the British singer would bring, they may have to look elsewhere. “It’s Adele’s nerves that are the issue,” the source told The Sun. “It hasn’t been an easy sell.” Might not be an easy sell to football fans, either.

Super Bowl LI is scheduled for February 5th, 2017 in Houston, Texas.