Fox Across America host Jimmy Faila analyzes the 2023 Super Bowl commercials and Rihanna’s halftime appearance on The Big Money Show.
Sunday’s Super Bowl drew around 113 million viewers, who also caught Rihanna’s soaring halftime show performance — but the “Umbrella” star wasn’t paid to perform.
“We don’t pay the artists,” NFL spokeswoman Joanna Hunter told Forbes in 2016. “We cover the expenses and production costs.”
NFL Vice President of Communications Brian McCarthy clarified to Newsweek last year that headliners receive union rates, which are paid to the union and then distributed to artists.
“There’s no performance fee, but the artists are actually unionized,” he said.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing most of the cast, could charge a minimum of about $1,000 a day for a high-budget show like the Super Bowl, which Newsweek says would be a handout to Rihanna, who is around 1, is worth $4 billion.
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Rihanna didn’t get a performance fee for her Super Bowl halftime show. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation/Getty Images)
Still, the show is a win-win for the NFL and the headliner, as record sales tend to skyrocket after such a high-profile performance.
According to Forbes, Lady Gaga’s sales increased 1,000% after her 2017 show.
With the NFL raking in a reported $1 million surplus on production costs, some artists have begun reaching into their own pockets to ensure their show is exactly how they want it.
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Both The Weeknd and Dr. Dre spent around $7 million of her own money on her Super Bowls shows, Forbes reported.
Rihanna wowed the Super Bowl crowd on Sunday, singing on a platform that rose and fell. (John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“I’m involved in every aspect of everything I do,” Rihanna said at a pre-show press conference last week. “Whether it’s the Super Bowl, whether it’s a makeup product, whether it’s Savage lingerie … I want to see the copy on the site. I want to give a name to every lipstick I make. If it flops or flies, my name has to go with it.”
Fox Business reached out to a Rihanna representative to find out if she paid for any of her own production costs.
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Rihanna sang hits like “We Found Love,” “Only Girl (In the World)” and “Rude Boy” in a red jumpsuit that showed off her baby bump for the first time while being raised and lowered on a platform along with dozens of backups became a dancer during her show.
The performance marked her return to music after six years of venturing into other ventures like her makeup brand, Fenty Beauty.
After the halftime show, a rep for the musician confirmed that Rihanna is expecting her second child.