(John Seb Barber—Wikimedia Commons)
The halftime show is the last bastion of interest for non-sports fans who still wish to participate in the good old American tradition of the Super Bowl.
This year there was controversy at the reveal that Bad Bunny was selected as the headlining artist. Yet, how artists are selected – and how a show comes together – is an opaque process to the general public.
Starting in 2019, the National Football League initiated a partnership with Roc-Nation, an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z. Since then, the company has been handling the league’s entertainment strategies. Explicit details are sparse, but most reports indicate Roc-Nation and Jay-Z himself play a key role in selecting halftime headliners.
(Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com)
One NPR article claims a host city creates a list of artists, which is then presented to an NFL approval board for selection. VIBE indicates the NFL hands a list of artists to cities. However, a New Orleans representative commenting on last year's Super Bowl stated the NFL has the final say.
The confusion perhaps points towards a less bureaucratic process, which simply rests on the whims of Jay-Z. In a Today Show piece, a representative from Apple Music pointed to the artist as the sole arbiter of the decision, echoed by an executive producer of the halftime show. A clip of Taylor Swift on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon also seems to indicate a less ordered, and more interpersonal process.
The fact that Jay-Z is the only person quoted in the NFL’s announcement aside from Bad Bunny certainly affirms the artist’s influence. Thus, if details are sparse and perhaps not clear-cut to begin with, the best insight into the halftime show is its purpose.
Most important to the philosophy of the Super Bowl halftime show is the fact that it is inherently intertwined with advertising. Contrary to what one would expect of some of the biggest names in music, Super Bowl halftime performers are paid minimally for their work.
(Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com)
Performers are only paid union scale for the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The bare minimum SAG-AFTRA members must be paid for their time. This is around $1,000 a day. The NFL and its sponsor will cover the cost of the production, but the artist's real payment is in “exposure,” the kind of statement which makes most working musicians shudder.
With recent halftime show headliners, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and their upcoming peer Bad Bunny, among the top-10 artists in the U.S. this year, there's a fair argument they need no promotion.
Though there is inherent value to the halftime performance. In the case of Lamar, last year's performer, he saw a 175% boost in streams of his music. Also consider the abstract value in the “mythmaking” legacy of delivering a historic performance. Perhaps losing out on an appearance fee isn’t a major loss, even if principally wrong, considering the wealth of the NFL.
More to the point, the Super Bowl, pulls in viewership from a near universal demographic, a great benefit if one seeks to become a household name… as close to one as our splintered entertainment niches allow.
(Mike Morris--Wikimedia Commons)
The game's event status makes it easy to overlook the fact that the show serves as a substantial draw for the NFL. The last three Super Bowl performances are among the most watched ever, The halftime shows for 2023 and 2025 both beat the viewership of the game itself.
Around a third of Americans viewed the Super Bowl for the last three years. Therefore, an artist with mass appeal, one likely to pull in non-fans, makes the most sense. This is what makes Bad Bunny not only a good pick, but a brilliant one.
Bad Bunny is currently among the top 10 most-streamed artists in the U.S., and he was Spotify’s most streamed artist globally in in four of the last six years. Bad Bunny also performs all of his music in Spanish. Obviously, the U.S has a substantial number of Spanish speakers, but the majority are outside the U.S.
Notably, two of seven countries the NFL seems likely to play in for their international series next year are Spanish-speaking Spain and Mexico. The NFL has long sought to expand in international markets. International games have been a part of nearly every NFL season since 2007.
1ladygagasuperbowl (Arnie Papp—Wikimedia Commons)
Even if Bad Bunny wasn’t one of the most-listened-to artists in our country, the tastes of Americans aren’t the only consideration. International audiences are the largest potential audience for the NFL. Yes, American football is our phenomenon – its global appeal is a different reality.
The initial negative press from some political outlets may even have been by design. Not to retread tired adages about bad press, but the likelihood of viewers changing the channel or boycotting the game altogether because of political concerns seems unlikely.
The Super Bowl and its halftime show have steadily increased in viewership and shattered records in recent years. The truest thing to be said of both is that they are a black hole of attention and money. The NFL seems poised to try to pull the world into its event-horizon.
Author Bio
Garrett Hartman is a contributing writer at Highbrow Magazine.
For Highbrow Magazine