How Much Did Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Cost?
Rihanna took the stage at Apple’s Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show and performed a medley of some of her most memorable hits. With scores of backup dancers, fireworks, and multiple floating stages, some were left wondering how much it might cost to put on such a production.
Here’s what we’ve figured out about an estimated price for the show.
Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show production likely cost somewhere between $10-$20 million
We can’t confirm how much Rihanna’s performance cost, but CBS calculated that recent past shows racked up price tags ranging between $10-$20 million. Meanwhile, Reuters gave a specific calculation, noting the cost of putting on a halftime show production runs steep, at about a million dollars a minute.
Rihanna’s performance was around 13 minutes, which is average. So, that would cost roughly $13 million. And in the end, none of that went into a paycheck from the NFL for her performance. However, she released a Super Bowl-themed line of merchandise through her Fenty brand, which is just one of the ways artists can generate income from the shows (CBS).
Reuters reported that the work to put the production together begins about a year in advance, partly because it requires thousands of people to pull it off. Building a stage and then taking it apart again in the middle of a high-stakes football game takes a lot of collaboration.
The setup that night usually takes about eight minutes, the average performance is 13 minutes, and tearing the whole thing down to resume the big game takes around six minutes.
Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show became 1 of the most iconic pregnancy reveals ever
Though Rihanna turned down the Super Bowl in 2019, she told Entertainment Tonight she was grateful for the opportunity in 2023. “It’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that,” she noted.
And she did not disappoint her fans when she took the spotlight, opening the performance by cradling what looked like a baby bump, which her representative later confirmed to be a baby bump, to be sure. For those who don’t know, she had her first son with A$AP Rocky in May 2022.
While chatting with ET, Rihanna revealed that only a few things could get her out of the house as a new mom, which secretly meant as a new mom who is also expecting again. But the challenge of putting on the iconic show called to her, and she was certainly up to it.
A source told ET that Rihanna was happy with the production, and “loves that the performance also acted as such an exciting announcement for her and her family.”
Rihanna returned to the stage for the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show after 7 years without touring
In an interview with Good Morning America, Rihanna said she hadn’t toured in seven years before she hit the stage for the halftime show. So, she knew she had her work cut out for her in more ways than one, but she still made it look easy.
As for how she overcame the fact that millions of people would be watching the performance, she said she didn’t. She confessed, “I have not been able to do that. Still, to this day …”
