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Shakira and Jennifer Lopez won't get paid for the Super Bowl halftime show

4 February 2020, 17:24

By Katie Louise Smith

How much do performers get paid for the Super Bowl halftime show? Zero dollars. It's all about the exposure, baby.

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez's spectacular Super Bowl halftime show was reportedly watched by 103 million people on Sunday (2 Feb) but they won't be getting paid for any of it.

As reported almost every year after the Super Bowl, Forbes reveals that performers of the halftime show don't actually see a single penny from the NFL. NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter previously explained: "We do not pay the artists. We cover expenses and production costs."

The halftime show basically serves as a free commercial for the artists who perform during those 15 minutes, with a guarantee of 100 million people turning in live to watch the show. Essentially, it's like being paid in guaranteed exposure, with your expenses covered.

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Despite not being paid, the benefits of performing on such a huge scale can pay off.

Off the back of this year's performance, Shakira has since announced a new world tour and has seen four songs sky rocket to the top of the charts, with 'Whenever, Wherever' reaching No. 1 on US iTunes, 19 years after its release.

In fact, all the songs performed on the night saw a huge 1,013% sales increase on Sunday, according to Nielsen Music, as reported by Billboard.

Previous halftime show performers have also seen similar increases in sales and streams. Artists like Madonna and Beyoncé have also announced world tours off the back of their shows, and other artists' profiles have been boosted to even bigger heights, meaning they can command even more gross per tour stop.

So even though they didn't get paid, Shakira and J Lo didn't even come close to losing. You know who did lose, though? Miami's very own Pitbull. Who wasn't even invited. Justice for Pitbull.