The NRL has reportedly chosen Grammy-nominated singer Teddy Swims to perform the pre-match entertainment at this year’s grand final as the league attempts to match the headline-grabbing hiring of Snoop Dogg by the AFL.
Swims, 32, had a big hit in Australia with his 2024 song Lose Control and is due to tour Down Under in October.
That leaves him well placed to perform at Australian rugby league’s biggest game, which kicks off at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Sunday, October 5.
Swims’ music has been streamed more than 8.7 billion times, he’s been nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy and several gongs at the MTV Video Music Awards, and he has almost nine million followers on Instagram.
However, it appears the NRL is once again losing out to the AFL when it comes to grand final star power.
While Swims has a very strong following, Snoop has been at the top of the music game for decades and is far more well-known, with almost 90 million Instagram followers, more than 18.5 billion Spotify streams and status as an entertainment icon with a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
American star Teddy Swims (pictured) is reportedly playing before kickoff at this year’s NRL grand final on October 5
Despite his success, the choice of Swims still leaves the NRL short on star power compared to the entertainment for this year’s AFL grand final (pictured, Nathan Cleary and father Ivan celebrate last year’s NRL premiership win by Penrith)
The AFL’s choice of Snoop Dogg (pictured) to thrill the crowd before the premiership decider continues the code’s run of success when it comes to attracting some of the biggest names in music for the biggest game of the year
The choice of Swims – which was reported by News Corp – means the AFL continues its run of securing bigger acts for the final game of the season.
Last year saw Katy Perry perform a pre-match set at the MCG, while the NRL had The Kid Laroi.
In 2023 rock legends Kiss thrilled the crowd with hits like I Was Made For Lovin’ You and Rock and Roll All Nite, while rugby league fans were treated to King Stingray.
And in 2022, superstar Robbie Williams gave the AFL the edge once again, going up against old favourite Jimmy Barnes and rappers Bliss n Eso for the NRL.
Swims already has some experience with entertaining footy fans after he teamed up with Fox Sports to promote the NRL finals series.
However, the AFL’s choice of Snoop hasn’t been problem-free.
First Snoop was blasted for his attitudes to women on a top-rating Melbourne radio show, with host Tom Elliott raising problematic lyrics he said proved the rapper ‘is at odds with what the AFL is constantly lecturing us about – you know, respect towards women’.
The controversy over Snoop’s past lyrics and comments went up several notches in light of Adelaide star Izak Rankine’s four-match ban for hitting an opponent with a homophobic slur during a match.
Snoop (pictured) has also attracted plenty of controversy for his lyrics and comments about women and gay people
Swims is touring Australia in October and was hired to promote last year’s NRL finals series
The Crows used his lyrics and past homophobic statements to argue the AFL was being hypocritical by hiring him to play at the MCG while also banning stars who engaged in similar behaviour.
AFL boss Andrew Dillon hit back, saying those lyrics and comments were in Snoop’s past, only for the rapper to make more controversial statements in a podcast last Thursday.
The 53-year-old was discussing taking his grandson to see the children’s movie Lightyear, which features two female characters who kiss.
Snoop Dogg said his grandson asked him, ‘Papa Snoop, how she have a baby with a woman? She’s a woman.’
He responded, ‘Aw s**t, I didn’t come here for this s**t, I just came here to watch the goddamn movie.
‘So that’s like f**k me, I’m scared to go to the movies now, y’all throwing me in the middle of this s**t that I don’t have an answer for … it threw me for a loop.
‘These are kids … [do] we have to show that at that age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.’
Snoop also said ‘they putting it everywhere’ as he began talking about the depiction of same-sex relationships in popular culture.
On Thursday, Dillon defended the AFL’s decision to pay Snoop a rumoured $2million to perform at the grand final.
‘We cannot vouch for every lyric in every song ever written or performed by any artist who has or will appear on our stage, Australian or international,’ he said.
‘It’s also important to remember that we have engaged Snoop Dogg in 2025 as the person he is today.
‘He has spoken publicly about his past, he has changed, and today he is a grandfather, philanthropist, he helps rehabilitate youth, and he’s a global entertainer who has performed at both the Super Bowl and the Olympic closing ceremony to audiences of more than 100 million people.
‘In those environments, his performances were appropriate and well-received, and his performance this year at our grand final will be fitting for the best sporting event in the country.’
