It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Super Bowl halftime show is expensive to produce with the amount of crew and logistics involved, but it also depends on the performer’s artistic vision. For example, Beyonce’s 2013 Super Bowl halftime show (the one where she seemingly caused the stadium to lose power for a half-hour after she left the stage) cost around $600,000. In contrast, recent performers like Coldplay and Lady Gaga upped the production budget to about $10 million (via Forbes). However, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s 2020 Super Bowl halftime show broke the production record again and was reported to cost the NFL $13 million for 13 minutes.
The reason this halftime shows cost so much has to do with props. The NFL pays for stagehands, band dues, and production costs. This means that production visuals or components like Beyonce’s LED panels and Lady Gaga’s drones were all paid for by the NFL.
Considering that the NFL generates billions in advertising from the Super Bowl each year (via CNBC), it’s likely that they’ll continue to support artists in making the success of their show, but, amazingly, The Weeknd was willing to pay out of his own pocket to take the production costs even higher.
