Why Usher didn’t get paid for the Super Bowl halftime show last night despite unbelievable performance
Another year, another Super Bowl done and dusted.
There were adverts, SpongeBob SquarePants utterly demolished Leonardo DiCaprio, we had more on the ongoing romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and there was also time to squeeze in a bit of American Football at a few moments as well.
Obviously one of the main attractions of the Super Bowl beyond the sport and commercials is the legendary halftime show, and each year a famous figure is picked to headline the gig.
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One of the biggest shows in showbiz, the eyeballs of millions will be on whomever gets to lead the show and this year it was Usher who took centre stage.
He had an incredible roster of surprise guests, including Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R, will.i.am, Lil John and Ludacris - although fans thought one obvious name was missing from that list.
Overall though it went down a storm, with many calling Usher their 'GOAT'.
Now, with such a big event as the Super Bowl halftime show he must be getting paid a lot to be there, right? Nope.
Yeah, the NFL doesn't actually pay a huge fee to the performers who headline their halftime show, it's pretty much the epitome of 'it pays in exposure'.
Usher was not paid for his 15 minute performance, just like the string of famous singers who took the same gig in the years before him.
Basically, the performers aren't paid because getting the chance to play the Super Bowl halftime show ought to be reward enough, especially since it almost always leads to a massive boost in record sales for the artist.
The NFL will cover the costs of putting on the show and dole out a basic union scale fee for a performer's time, but Usher will have to make his money from the Super Bowl off those millions of viewers who watched him and thought 'I should buy an Usher album'.
The Super Bowl has been a big money spinner for performers in the past as in 2017 Lady Gaga saw her record sales jump by around 1,000 percent after she'd played the halftime show.
When Jennifer Lopez stepped onto the Super Bowl stage with Shakira in 2020 she gained another 2.3 million followers on social media.
That'd mean she'd get paid far more for any sponsored posts and likely translated into higher sales for her records as well.
Usher will know he's timed things well with his halftime show since his new album Coming Home released just last week (9 February) while his Present Past Future tour was recently announced.
Everyone thinking they ought to give some money to Usher will know exactly where to go.
As for who actually won the Super Bowl, victory went to the Kansas City Chiefs as they beat the San Francisco 49ers.
Joe Harker