The Zac Brown Band officially took over Sunday Night Baseball last night, debuting the brand-new opening as the broadcast moves to NBC for the 2026 season.
Their performance aired ahead of the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians game, marking the first Sunday night MLB broadcast on NBC in this new era after the package shifted away from ESPN.
Instead of a traditional theme song, the band recorded their own version of “Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression Part 2” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It’s actually a pretty fitting choice. The song’s famous opening line references “the show that never ends,” which lines up perfectly with baseball’s long-running nickname, “The Show.”
“It was one of those experiences where you step back and think, how did we get here?,” Brown said. “We put everything we had into the performance and then watching it come together with the visuals, the production, it took on a whole new life. The folks at NBC Sports really understood the energy we were going for. It felt like a genuine collaboration, and when I finally saw the finished product, I was really proud.”
NBC didn’t treat this like a quick intro either. The whole thing was produced more like what you’d expect from Sunday Night Football, with a full performance feel instead of just background music leading into first pitch. It’s clear they’re trying to make Sunday Night Baseball feel like a major weekly event again.
The timing worked out pretty well too. Zac Brown is a Georgia native and longtime Braves fan, so having the debut line up with an Atlanta game made it a bit of a full-circle moment.
“Man, that is not lost on me at all. I’m a Georgia boy through and through, so having this debut on a night when the Braves are playing, that’s the kind of thing you just can’t script,” Brown said. “Our fans know how much Atlanta means to us. To have this moment tied to our team, in our home state, it really does make it feel full circle.”
This is all part of a bigger shift for Major League Baseball. After decades on ESPN, Sunday Night Baseball now lives on NBC and Peacock, with a completely new look, new presentation, and now a new sound to kick things off every week.
So if you watched last night, you’ve already seen what they’re going for. And if not, expect to hear Zac Brown Band setting the tone every Sunday night moving forward.
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