When does the Super Bowl 59 halftime show begin? Kendrick Lamar start time on Sunday

Super Bowl LIX promises to be a banger, with Patrick Mahomes looking to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to an unprecedented threepeat against arguably the most loaded roster in the NFL in the Philadelphia Eagles. But fans in New Orleans and around the world have a lot more to look forward to than some great football Sunday night. There's also the halftime show, which this year features rapper and 22-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar.

Five of those Grammys came just this year, courtesy of his Drake-ethering diss track "Not Like Us". It remains to be seen whether Lamar will perform that particular track or whether some pending litigation will dash our hopes and dreams, but no matter what the set list looks like, it's guaranteed to be a good time. Here's how to make sure you don't miss out.

Scheduled start time of the Super Bowl LIX halftime show

Pinning down the exact start time of the Super Bowl halftime show is tricky, but the best guess is around 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT, and a full half of football — plus time for all of those commercials — generally takes around an hour and a half.

Of course, any start time should be written only in pencil. As we've learned from years past, when exactly the Super Bowl halftime show starts is an inexact science, one that depends on any number of factors.

Factors influencing halftime show timing

When exactly Lamar takes the stage at the Superdome depends on when exactly the game reaches halftime in the first place. Both the Chiefs and the Eagles excel at extending drives, both because of their ruthlessly efficient offenses and because both coaches are among the most aggressive in the league at going for it on fourth down. Long drives keep the clock running, and that could mean a relatively quick first half — one that would have OVO on slightly before that 8 p.m. ET estimate.

On the flip side, however, the Super Bowl is a major production, one that lends itself to more delays and time spent not playing football than your typical NFL game. Commercial breaks are a touch longer, and if the first half happens to feature an unusual number of timeouts, or penalties, or quick scores, things could drag on a little longer. (And that's not even mentioning the possibility of a technical malfunction, like we saw a little over a decade ago in this very building.)

Highlights of what's expected in the halftime show

Of course, we already know that Lamar will be there. But if there's one thing we've learned about Super Bowl halftime shows, it's that they're always full of surprises — and at least one surprise guest star. Our very own Cody Williams took a crack at predicting exactly what K-Dot's set list will look like, foreseeing him opening with "Alright" and closing, hilariously, with "Not Like Us". (Sadly, Williams left "euphoria" off the list, because two straight Drake diss tracks feels like overkill.) SZA, Future, Metro Boomin and Baby Keem are predicted to join him on stage at one point or another to help perform various tracks.

How to watch and not miss the halftime show

The Super Bowl halftime show, like the game itself, will air live on FOX. You can also stream it via the Fox Sports app, or use services like Tubi (which will feature the FOX stream and is free) and Fubo (which offers free trials to all new users).

International fans looking to watch the big game can checkthis link, which provides information for many different regions around the world. The NFL is trying to grow its brand globally so don't be shocked if we hear about record-setting viewership numbers when the global audience is factored into Super Bowl 59's final audience totals.