Historic NFL Game Sparks Controversy After What the National Anthem Singer Wore

The NFL — and by extension football — dominates American airwaves.

And to be blunt, it’s not even close. Other sports leagues, other television programs, and other networks all look at the NFL’s television ratings with palpable envy.

Outside of America, however, the NFL isn’t even the most popular form of “football,” as “fútbol” — or soccer — is far and away the most popular sport in the rest of the world.

To make headway into that soccer-saturated market, the NFL has been promoting various international games over the last 20 years or so as part of its “International Series.”

For instance, this year alone, the NFL has featured games in Brazil (the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27-21), Germany (the Indianapolis Colts beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-25 in overtime), and multiple games in London.

This season the NFL targeted a new international city for its “International Series,” and it was a city that the league had never played in before: Madrid, Spain.

And yes, Madrid is arguably one of the “fútbol” capitals of the world.

Given soccer’s prevalence in Madrid, it appears the NFL tried to pull out all the stops to make a good first impression (never mind that this game was played between the injury-riddled Washington Commanders and the moribund Miami Dolphins).

Part of that good first impression invariably involves one of the most time-honored traditions in the NFL: the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

For this particular moment, the NFL tapped Madrid-based singer Karina Pasian to do the honors.

And for the most part, she delivered:

Madrid-based vocalist Karina Pasian sings the U.S. National Anthem for the first-ever NFL game in Spain. pic.twitter.com/vIhnBFq4sA

— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025

In fact, unlike most instances of a controversial national anthem demonstration, Pasian didn’t butcher the anthem, nor was there any anthem protesting.

A cursory look at the comments below the NFL’s post show that the vast majority of commentators appreciated Pasian’s rendition of the national anthem, and felt she handled the vocals with aplomb.

Her outfit, however? That drew far more mixed reviews from fans.

“Great to see the sharing of sport and competition with other countries!!” one X user commented under the NFL post. “Karina’s rendition of the US national anthem was lovely, but why is she dressed like a hooker?”

Other users echoed the “lady of the night” sentiment:

This is how singer Karina Pasian was dressed to sign the National Anthem before the Commanders/Dolphins football game!

What is wrong with the @NFL ?#oldcatholic #oldcatholicchurch #catholic #catholicchurch #catholicism #catholicministries #usccb #EWTN #ncregister #pope… pic.twitter.com/yPcg01cY5T

— Bishop Richard Ministries (@Bp_Richard_Min) November 17, 2025

Wholly inappropriate. The NFL used to be family friendly.

— American Assn of Retired Republicans ℠ (@aarr_org) November 17, 2025

The New York Post chronicled a number of other similar comments.

“The outfit was a bit inappropriate but her voice was beautiful,” one commenter wrote.

“Why is she dressed like a cabaret dancer? Takes away all solemnity from the anthem,” a different user said.

“Who dresses like that to sing a national anthem. Zero home training. Shame,” another user said.

Ultimately, more fans did seem to focus on the fact that Pasian did a good job with her rendition.

The Dolphins beat the Commanders in overtime during Sunday’s international game. The Fins won 16-13, pushing their record to 4-7, while the Commanders fell to 3-8.

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