No, Usher Won’t Get Paid for the Super Bowl Halftime Show — Here’s Why

Usher, like his Super Bowl halftime predecessors, will spend months preparing for the world’s biggest stage — but he won’t be paid for any of it.

“That!” the singer is the 2024 Super Bowl halftime performer, following Rihanna in 2023. Although the short concert is known to be one of the most-watched TV broadcasts each year, the artists are never paid.

However, the sheer exposure of performing on such a big stage has attracted top talent over the years, from Beyoncé to The Weeknd. Despite the lack of salary, the NFL is paying the costs associated with reviving the show, which cost $13 million per show in 2020. Reuters. They also cover the artist’s travel expenses.

“We don’t pay artists,” an NFL spokesman said Forbes in 2016 “We cover costs and production costs.”

Here’s everything you need to know about how the NFL funds the Super Bowl halftime show — and why it’s still profitable for artists.

Will Usher get paid?

Usher attends the 2022 Beloved Benefit at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 7, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Marcus Ingram/Getty

Not. Like past performers, Usher will not be paid for his halftime performance. Per Forbes, artists are paid “union scale,” which is a fraction of the six- or seven-figure earnings they typically earn for a performance and is the minimum wage guaranteed by the union contract. Under the last SAG-AFTRA contract, that would be over $1,000 a day.

“The Super Bowl halftime show continues to be a highly coveted venue for many artists,” entertainment attorney Lori Landew told the 2019 edition.

She added, “Some of these artists don’t see their appearance as a political statement, nor do they see their performance as a cultural battleground, but instead see their live performance as an opportunity to entertain an enthusiastic audience and share their music and their talent with millions of viewers.”

Has anyone ever been paid?

Rihanna performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023.

Gregory Shamus/Getty

No one has ever been paid for their performance, but at one point the NFL wanted to charge artists to perform. In 2015, the NFL asked artists including Rihanna, Coldplay and Katy Perry to pay for the chance to perform on the big stage. However, in the end they refused.

Although Perry agreed to perform, she said she refused to pay because she didn’t want it to be associated with her name for the rest of her career.

“I don’t want an asterisk next to my name to play in the Super Bowl for the rest of my life,” Perry said Forbes. “I want to be able to say I played in the Super Bowl based on my talent and merit, thank you very much.”

Do the dancers get paid?

The Weeknd practices for the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show at Raymond James Stadium on February 4, 2021.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

In 2021, the NFL was criticized for not paying dancers fairly because half of the dancers in The Weeknd’s performance were unpaid “volunteers”. According to one dancer who worked for free during the show, the dancers who were paid were paid $712 for the actual performance at the Super Bowl and $45 per hour for rehearsal time, per Los Angeles Times. They also received a $30 per diem and a $250 COVID allowance if they had to report to the clinic for testing on a day they were not working.

Originally, many unpaid dancers did not know that they would be dancing alongside paid dancers and that they could use the experience as one of the three union gigs required to qualify for SAG-AFTRA.

After being notified of the issue, SAG-AFTRA met with the show’s producers to determine rules that would ensure dancers and other employees would be paid.

“SAG-AFTRA and the producers of the Super Bowl Halftime Show met and had an open and honest discussion, and agreed that no professional dancer will be asked to work for free as part of the halftime show,” the union said in a statement to Los Angeles Times. “SAG-AFTRA will advise our professional dancer members that they should not rehearse or work for the Super Bowl halftime show without compensation.”

Why do artists perform at the Super Bowl without getting paid?

Katy Perry performs with dancers during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015.

Rob Carr/Getty

Getting paid to perform at the Super Bowl isn’t necessarily a priority for singers because of the other perks that come from the show. The exposure alone helps accelerate album and tour sales for artists, even those who currently have nothing to promote.

Historically, an artist’s streams spike the day after a big game. According to Spotify, per Newsweek, after the 2020 Super Bowl halftime, Shakira saw a 230% jump in streams while Jennifer Lopez’s discography grew by 335%. After Justin Timberlake’s 2018 performance, sales of his music rose 534% per Board. Similarly, Bruno Mars album sales for An unorthodox jukebox jumped 92%, pushing it from no. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 to no. 3, according to Forbes.

As time went on, the budget for the show continued to grow, expanding from $1 million for Bruce Springsteen in 2009 to $13 million for Lopez and Shakira in 2020. For his performance, The Weeknd added another $7 million of his own money to bring his vision to life, according to Board.

The relationship between the artist and the NFL is symbiotic, as Rihanna’s 2023 performance drew 118.7 million viewers, the most in television history, Forbes reported.

For Usher, the performance coincides with his new album, Coming home, which will be announced two days before the broadcast of the show. The “Love in this Club” singer also announced that he will be embarking on a national tour starting in August 2024.

What did the artists say about the lack of wages?

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at Bridgestone Halftime during Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers on February 1, 2009.

Jamie Squire/Getty

In an interview with Board In 2021, Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau reflected on why he approved the artist’s performance, reflecting on his first encounter with the NFL.

“They gave me 10 minutes worth of points about how big the Super Bowl is, it’s the No. 1 show about Jupiter and Mars, it’s No. 1 with women, it’s No. 1 with people who don’t brush their teeth. The deal was a billion dollars — I remember them saying that,” he told the newspaper.

He added, “‘I have one question: How much do you get paid to be part of the greatest show in the history of the universe? What does the artist get?’ Show earnings for Bruce and the band: zero. But it was beautifully produced, Bruce and the band were sensational and we loved it. Until you get there, you don’t realize how many people work on that show.”

Do other Super Bowl players get paid?

Post Malone performs during the 2020 New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square on December 31, 2019 in New York City.

Noam Galai/Getty

In addition to the halftime show, the Super Bowl has other performances at the beginning of the game every year. In 2024, Reba McEntire will perform the National Anthem, while Post Malone will sing “America the Beautiful.” Andra Day will also perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

However, like the halftime performer, no one is paid outside of the union wage.

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Source: HIS Education