The network announced on Thursday that The Tonight Show will air four special episodes throughout the fall season that will follow the highly rated sports program, after local news broadcasts. This bit of programming synergy has been tested out in the past, most recently last November, when host Jimmy Fallon welcomed guests Jon Hamm, Lindsay Lohan, and Pharrell onto a special episode following a Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Chargers game.
Evidently, the experiment was deemed a success, as The Tonight Show has already begun to assemble a slate of A-list guests to follow four climactic games between September and December.
"Teaming up with NBC Sports for these Sunday night episodes is always a highlight for us," Tonight Show showrunner Chris Miller said in Thursday's release. "We've always loved leaning into sports and are excited to be a part of Sunday Night Football again this season."
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The first Fallon x NFL match-up kicks off on Sept. 21, with the Saturday Night Live alum set to host guests Matthew McConaughey and Eric Church. The inaugural special episode of the 2025 season will follow a Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Giants game, highly anticipated in its own right thanks to Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce's engagement to pop superstar Taylor Swift earlier this week.
Fallon's guests for the remaining episodes have yet to be announced. But the Sunday Night Football schedule for the next three dates proceeds as follows: Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Oct. 26); Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Nov. 16); and Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Dec. 7).
Sunday Night Football has long carried NBC's ratings charts, with last fall's viewer count more than doubling that of its closest competitor, Chicago Fire. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, hasn't even cracked the top 15 in some time, though an assist from Fox News host Greg Gutfeld (and the Jonas Brothers) did recently boost Fallon to his best ratings in two years.
If the end of September is too long to wait for a Fallon-NFL twofer, fret not. The Tonight Show is also scheduled for a regular episode following the NFL season-opening kickoff game on Sept. 4. Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the Dallas Cowboys during the game set to air on NBC and Peacock at 8:20 p.m. ET, with The Tonight Show following at 11:35 p.m. ET.