NFL Appealing to International Audience With Bollywood Star in Thursday Night Football Intro

Over the last few months there has been all sorts of talk over Faith Hill no longer doing the Sunday Night Football Intro and Carrie Underwood stepping in. Lost in that talk has been CeeLo being kicked to the curb by Thursday Night Football for Priyanka Chopra.

Who? Don't worry. You may not know her, but a large part of the rest of the world does.

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The NFL has been trying to appeal to audiences overseas for years. There is a following of course; but the league wants it to be bigger. However, there is some serious competition in the form of rugby, soccer, and cricket--all three of which are wildly popular all over the world.

But that is not going to stop the NFL from trying, especially if it is ever going to expand overseas like Roger Goodell wants. The games in London are a nice start; however, including one of Bollywood's biggest stars in the Thursday Night intro will likely be even bigger.

Prior to the 13 Thursday night games a clip of Chopra singing her hit song "In My City" will play with a montage of players and sportscasters mixed in with clips of her singing and dancing.



While she is a big hit in India and with anyone that loves Bollywood movies she has yet to catch on with the U.S. audience. She does have a pair of songs released in the U.S., "Exotic" with Pitbull released last July and a version of "In My City" with Will.i.am (released last year).

Now that she will be taking center stage in front of millions of viewers once a week for the next three months the chance that her career in the U.S. will take off is all but guaranteed.