J.Lo and Shakira Won’t Be Paid for Their Super Bowl Halftime Show Performance

Performing during the Pepsi Super Bowl halftime show is kind of a big deal. Not only do you have millions of people watching at home, but you’re also performing to a huge crowd inside the stadium during one of the biggest sporting events of the year. But while you enjoy J. Lo and Shakira’s Super Bowl halftime show (opens in new tab) performance, you might be surprised to know that they won’t be paid for it, according to Forbes (opens in new tab).

That’s right: Super Bowl halftime show performers typically aren’t paid anything to do the show. The NFL only covers union scale, which is the minimum amount people in a union are paid to do a job, as well production costs, which the Wall Street Journal (opens in new tab) has reported have exceeded $10 million in recent years.

You might be wondering why Shakira (opens in new tab) and Jennifer Lopez (opens in new tab), along with huge performers like Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Maroon 5, agreed to do the gig for free. Well, Forbes cited a few reasons. For one, it’s typically a pretty big honor. Many performers have mentioned personal dreams of doing the show (opens in new tab) and if they want it badly enough, they probably wouldn’t pass it up even if they weren’t rewarded with money.

For another, it gives performers a huge platform. The Super Bowl (opens in new tab) can boast 100 million viewers and that doesn’t count how many others are simply aware of it and who might watch clips on social media later. See: Lady Gaga’s album shooting to number two on the charts following her show and Justin Timberlake’s 214 percent increase in Spotify streams after his.

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