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The Jonas Brothers took the field at Melbourne Cricket Ground at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, for a short halftime set during the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia, drawing a mixed-to-negative reaction online. Back in the U.S., because of the time difference, it was still Thursday night, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET.
Key facts
- Event: the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia — 49ers vs. Rams
- Where: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
- When: 10:35 a.m. local time, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 (Thursday, Sept. 10, 8:35 p.m. ET in the U.S.)
- Halftime performers: Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas
- Attendance: more than 100,000 fans, according to the NFL and Australian outlets
- Final score: San Francisco 27, Rams 7 — Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes
- Broadcast: Netflix internationally; Seven Network in Australia, with local broadcasts also in San Francisco and Los Angeles
The halftime show
Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas played the halftime slot at the 49ers-Rams game, which drew more than 100,000 fans to the MCG, according to the NFL and Australian outlets covering the event. San Francisco won the game itself, 27-7, with quarterback Brock Purdy throwing three touchdown passes.
Australian media reports said the brothers played a roughly six-minute set leaning on older hits — “Burnin’ Up,” “Sucker” and “Year 3000” — plus a newer song, “Listen When Sad,” which made its live television debut during the performance. They closed with a cover of “You’re the Voice,” the John Farnham song that is something close to a second national anthem in Australia, and the Melbourne crowd responded enthusiastically. The friction, it turned out, wasn’t about anything that happened on stage — it was about the choice to book the band in the first place, as the reaction below shows.
Fan reaction split online
Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports described the reaction on social media afterward as mixed to negative. Some NFL fans said an American boy band was a strange fit for an international football broadcast, pointed to ticket prices, and argued the league should have given the slot to an Australian act instead. Others pushed back, saying the show delivered and singling out the Farnham cover as a highlight. NFL executives Tim Tubito and Charlotte Offord also issued official statements about the booking, and the band issued its own statement expressing excitement to perform.
Australian performers did have a presence in Melbourne that week — acts including Peking Duk, Grinspoon and Sneaky Sound System played the NFL’s surrounding Kickoff Festival — but the halftime headline slot itself went to the Jonas Brothers.
A familiar controversy
This was not the band’s first time drawing this kind of criticism for a sports-event booking. The Jonas Brothers performed during a break in Game 2 of the 2025 World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays and faced similar fan backlash then, which Joe Jonas addressed publicly at the time.
Cody Simpson’s separate performance
Cody Simpson, the Australian singer and swimmer, sang the national anthem before kickoff in a separate pregame segment — he did not perform alongside the Jonas Brothers during the halftime show itself, despite some social-media confusion conflating the two moments.
Who are the Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers are an American pop group — Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas — from Wyckoff, New Jersey, formed in 2005, not an Australian band. Melbourne was a stop, not their home turf, for a game the NFL had been promoting as historic since booking the band back in August.
Where to watch
The game and halftime show aired on Netflix internationally and on Seven Network in Australia, with local broadcasts also carried in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Timeline
- 2025 World Series, Game 2 (Dodgers vs. Blue Jays): Jonas Brothers performed during a break and faced similar fan backlash, which Joe Jonas addressed publicly
- August 2026: NFL books the Jonas Brothers for the Melbourne halftime show, promoting the game as historic
- Sept. 11, 2026, 10:35 a.m. local (Sept. 10, 8:35 p.m. ET): Jonas Brothers play the halftime show at the 49ers-Rams game in Melbourne
- Sept. 25, 2026: “Burning Up Tour All Over Again” begins at TD Garden in Boston
- Dec. 21, 2026: Tour concludes at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
What’s next for the band
For fans who want to see the band play a full set rather than a roughly six-minute halftime slot, the Jonas Brothers have a separate, unrelated commitment on the calendar: a 45-city North American arena tour called “Burning Up Tour All Over Again,” starting Sept. 25, 2026, at TD Garden in Boston and running through Dec. 21, 2026, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.