The gig isn’t as lucrative as you might think.

Will Bad Bunny get paid for his Super Bowl halftime show performance?

The gig isn't as lucrative as you might think.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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February 8, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

Bad Bunny performing at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on September 20, 2025. Credit:

Gladys Vega/Getty

- Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl LX halftime show.

- Super Bowl halftime show performers only receive union scale payment, which amounts to roughly $1,000 per day.

- That said, artists inevitably receive huge streaming and sales boosts following the performance.

It's been a banner decade for Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican rapper whose crossover success in hip-hop has led to numerous accolades, roles in big-budget flicks, and even a stint as a WWE wrestler.

2026 has only just begun, but this may be Bad Bunny's biggest year yet. The 31-year-old made history at the Grammys when his latest LP, *Debí Tirar Más Fotos, *became the first Latin album to win Album of the Year. This weekend, he'll chase that honor by headlining the Super Bowl LX halftime show.

“I’m going to enjoy. I’m going to embrace the moment," he said in a September 2025 interview with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden (via *Deadline*). "I’m going to show what we have, our music, our culture. I’m just going to the stage to enjoy and have fun."

The Super Bowl halftime show has long been considered one of the most coveted gigs in music, a spectacle reserved for the brightest and buzziest names in the business. But they don't do it for the paycheck.

Confused? Allow us to explain.**

Is Bad Bunny getting paid for his Super Bowl halftime performance?

Bad Bunny performing at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot on July 11, 2025.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Technically, yes, though the gig won't nearly be as lucrative as his recent live performances. When naming Bad Bunny as one of the highest-paid musicians of 2025, *Forbes* noted that roughly $40 million of the $66 million he earned came from his *No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí* residency in Puerto Rico.

So, what will he make for his halftime show? Union scale, the minimum wage guaranteed by a union contract. Per SAG-AFTRA's most recent contract, this amounts to roughly $1,000 a day.

Artists are compensated in other ways, though. In 2016, an NFL spokesperson confirmed to *Forbes* that the organization does not pay the artists but covers expenses and production costs. That's nothing to sniff at, though, as the cost of previous halftime show performances reportedly range from $10 to $20 million.**

Do the dancers get paid?

Kendrick Lamar performing at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans.

Cindy Ord/Getty

A 2022 investigation by the *Los Angeles Times* highlighted how only some dancers were being paid for their participation in Super Bowl halftime show performances, with others being deemed as "volunteers." The ones that were paid for the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show earned $712 for show day and $45 per hour for rehearsals. They also got a $30 per diem and a $250 COVID stipend, should they need to report to a clinic for a test.**

Everyone performing at the 2026 Super Bowl: Bad Bunny, Green Day, Brandi Carlile, and more

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Spurred by the backlash, SAG-AFTRA met with Super Bowl halftime show producers to ensure that all participating dancers be paid. "SAG-AFTRA and the producers of the Super Bowl Halftime Show have met and had an open and frank discussion, and have agreed that no professional dancers will be asked to work for free as part of the halftime show," reads a statement from the union shared with the* Times*. "SAG-AFTRA will be advising our professional dancer members that they should not be rehearsing or working on the Super Bowl halftime show without compensation."**

Why do artists play the Super Bowl halftime show without getting paid?

Bruno Mars performing at the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014, in East Rutherford, N.J.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty

You can't discount the cultural impact of the Super Bowl halftime show. (Just ask Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.) Last year, Kendrick Lamar's performance became the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show performance in history, according to Fox Sports, with an average of 133.5 million people tuned in via television and digital platforms. As of this writing, NFL's YouTube clip of the performance is at 159 million views.

That exposure inevitably extends to a bump in streams. *Billboard* reports that Lamar's U.S. streams increased by 91% following his halftime show performance. (In 2024, Usher saw a 211% bump.)

Lamar's headlining slot also juiced sales, with 13 of his tracks either rebounding or reentering the Billboard Hot 100, as well as five of his albums making sizable gains (between 65% and 264% on the Billboard 200).

While Bad Bunny will surely see similar gains, he's also anticipating the cultural value of the halftime show performance. “I’m really excited for my friends, my family. Puerto Rico, all the Latino people around the world. I’m excited about my culture. I’m excited about everything, not just for me,” he told Apple Music.**

When is Super Bowl LX?

Super Bowl LX airs on Sunday, Feb. 8, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. You can watch it on NBC or stream it live on Peacock.

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