Getty The Weeknd will perform at Super Bowl 55 in Tampa.
Do Super Bowl performers get paid? If so, how much? Have things changed in 2021?
It might be shocking to some to learn that the performers for the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most televised events in the country annually, do not get paid.
With more than 100 million viewers per event, “24 of the 25 most viewed TV programs watched in American history are Super Bowls,” according to Sporting News. However, CNBC reported that the National Football League does pay for performance-related expenses, such as stagehands and fireworks. The Wall Street Journal added that previous Super Bowl halftime performances have exceeded total costs of $10 million.
This year, The Weeknd will perform at Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, Florida on February 7. The three-time-Grammy-Award-winner shared in a statement with Sporting News, “We all grow up watching the world’s biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position.”
“I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year,” he continued.
Here’s what you need to know:
Almost All Previous Super Bowl Halftime Performers Saw an Immediate Boost in Their Sales
GettyShakira, left, and Jennifer Lopez, right, perform onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show at Hard Rock Stadium on February 2, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
Sporting News reported that, despite being for free, the 13-minute performance onstage will likely boost the musician’s sales almost immediately.
Lady Gaga in 2017 saw a growth in her sales and streaming numbers by more than 1,000%, the outlet continued, while Justin Timberlake saw a boost in 534% the next year. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira also saw an 893% growth combined following their joint performance at Super Bowl 54 last year, Billboard said.
NFL Director of Programming Lawrence Randall previously told Time Magazine:
“We’re putting someone up there for 12 and a half minutes in front of the largest audience that any television program garners in the United States, It’s a pretty good deal. It’s the famous win-win for both parties.”
Sporting News Projects That The Weeknd Will Earn at Least a 400% Increase in Sales
GettySinger The Weeknd performs onstage during the 2015 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye in Toronto, Canada, has quickly made a name for himself as a versatile R&B singer who is here to stay.
The 30-year-old first rose to fame in 2011 with his nine-song mixtape, “House of Balloons,” and later “solidified his star status thanks to his blockbuster albums ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’ (2015) — which included his biggest hits to date, ‘The Hills’ and ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ — and ‘Starboy’ (2016),” Billboard said.
So far, The Weeknd has recorded 72 Hot 100 Songs on Billboard and has been on the organization’s Artist 100 Chart for 290 weeks, according to Billboard’s website.
Sporting News estimates that The Weeknd will likely see a 400% minimum boost in sales following his upcoming Super Bowl performance, writing:
That would suggest that it’s relatively safe to project The Weeknd will earn, at minimum, a 400 percent rise in sales and streaming numbers in the days following his Super Bowl performance. To help the growth along, The Weeknd released an album dubbed “The Highlights” that features 18 of his most popular tracks, although it wasn’t available on streaming services as of late-January.
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