The Super Bowl half-time show has become one of the most eagerly awaited moments in the pop culture calendar, drawing in million of viewers (including a huge number of non-football fans) each year. Previous artists to headline the concert have included legends like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Prince, Diana Ross, and Michael Jackson.
The 2023 Super Bowl will be headlined by Rihanna, thrilling fans of hers who have been waiting a long time for her to return to the stage. The singer’s last studio album was Anti, released in 2016, and she has spent the last several years focusing on other endeavors, including her fashion and cosmetics businesses. She also recently became a parent, and she has said that she even surprised herself with her decision to accept the invitation to perform at Super Bowl LVII.
“Nothing would have gotten me out of the house if it wasn’t a challenge like that,” Rihanna told the Associated Press. “You could get real comfortable being at home as a mom, [so this is] challenging myself to do something that I’ve never done before in my career. I have to live up to that challenge.”
“I want to incorporate different aspects of entertainment and things that I just enjoy and bring it to the stage,” she added. “I want to celebrate the music that I’ve made.”
This year’s half-time show will be sponsored by Apple Music, and produced by DPS, Roc Nation, and Jesse Collins.
How Much Do Super Bowl Halftime Performer Get Paid?
Somewhat surprisingly, musicians who appear in the half-time concert are not actually paid for their performance. The NFL covers the production costs that go into putting on the show, and these can be considerable, even for the relatively short running time, given the various stunts that various artists pull during their gigs. For example, Shakira and J-Lo’s half-time show in 2020 cost $13 million, accounting for the audio, technical and staging crew and equipment.
The NFL will also foot the bill for any travel expenses that the musicians incur in order to get to the venue, but no cheques get written for the performance itself. However, the knock-on effect for artists in terms of exposure is very real, with the viewing figures for a half-time translating into often huge spikes in album sales—or more commonly in recent years, streaming numbers.
How Much Will Rihanna Make For Her Performance?
In Rihanna’s case specifically, the platform that the half-time show provides is an opportunity to showcase her long-awaited return to music, and a perfect stage on which to debut new material, which she first teased with her contribution to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack in 2022. RiRi also stands to make a lot of money through related media, as she is also rumored to be filming a documentary about her preparation for the half-time show, like Jennifer Lopez in 2020.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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