In the midst of all of the discussion about Beyonce’s lip-synced performance at President Barack Obama’s Inauguration on January 21st, many people are asking what kind of pay she might be raking in for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Normally, the former Destiny’s Child singer commands around $2 million per night but she will be performing for free at halftime of the world’s largest sporting event.
Why you ask? There are a couple of reasons actually:
1) The NFL does not pay the performer for the halftime show although they do cover all of the expenses associated for the artist to perform. That includes staging, lighting, back up dancers and all of the production involved as well as all travel costs.
2) The Super Bowl Halftime Show is the mother of all performances in terms of exposure. Last year, when Madonna performed her new song “Gimme All Your Luvin,” over 165,000 copies of the single were sold in the next week. In addition to that, it exposed a new generation of listeners to her classic songs like “Vogue” and “Like A Virgin” that also saw their downloads increase by thousands of percentage points over the next week after the performance.
3) The third that is not talked about much is that Beyonce just signed on with Pepsi for a $50 million dollar deal to be a spokesperson for the soft drink giant. In what is not so much of a coincidence, Pepsi is the sponsor of the halftime show. Some have claimed that Pepsi negotiated the halftime show as part of the deal but representatives of Pepsi have denied that, although they are thrilled that she is featured performer.
In what has lately become a tradition, Beyonce will follow in the steps of the Black Eyed Peas, Madonna and others who have not been paid for their performance.
I would also venture to guess that when you hear Beyonce belting out her biggest hits on Sunday night at the Superdome, you will be hearing her voice and no assist track given the controversy over her “Is It Live Or Is It Memorex” experience at the Inauguration.
What was your most favorite and least favorite Super Bowl Halftime Show? I would love to hear in the comments!
