NFL to Coldplay: Pay to Play the Super Bowl

League Receives Chilly Reception From Artists Under Consideration for 2015 Halftime Show

The NFL is considering potential performers for the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show, including Coldplay. The band performed at their album-release party in Los Angeles, shown above, in May. Getty Images for Clear Channel

The National Football League doesn't usually pay the act that performs at halftime during the Super Bowl. But in a twist this year, the league has asked artists under consideration for the high-profile gig to pay to play, according to people familiar with the matter.

The NFL has narrowed down the list of potential performers for the 2015 Super Bowl to three candidates: Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Coldplay, these people said. While notifying the artists' camps of their candidacy, league representatives also asked at least some of the acts if they would be willing to contribute a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income to the league, or if they would make some other type of financial contribution, in exchange for the halftime gig.

The pay-to-play suggestion got a chilly reception from the candidates' representatives, these people said.

NFL spokeswoman Joanna Hunter said the league's contracts with performers were confidential and that its only goal was "to put on the best possible show."

As for the lineup, she said, "when we have something to announce, we'll announce it." Super Bowl XLIX is to be played outside Phoenix on Feb. 1.

It's unclear how much money the NFL was seeking, and whether it would likely have amounted to more or less than the extra income the chosen performer might stand to generate from the exposure. No decision has been made yet and it is possible another act could be selected.

The Super Bowl halftime show, which this year featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars, drew a record 115.3 million viewers in February, according to the NFL, more than the game itself. The entire event averaged 112.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That was more than double the size of the audience for the Academy Awards this year, more than triple the audience for this year's Grammy Awards and more than 11 times the size of MTV's most recent Video Music Awards.

The show has always been among the most valuable promotional opportunities for the music industry, and in recent years some performers have put tickets for their tours on sale immediately following their appearance on the field, to capitalize on the exposure. Beyoncé announced her "Mrs. Carter Show" tour immediately following her halftime performance in 2013, for example, and the world tour grossed more than any other that year besides Bon Jovi's, according to trade publication Pollstar. Bruno Mars also put tickets to his "Moonshine Jungle" tour on sale the Monday after the game this year.

CD and download sales also typically get a temporary boost during the week following the artist's Super Bowl performance.

But it is impossible to know what percentage of an artist's concert ticket and album buyers were inspired by the halftime show. The impact is likely to be more significant for an up-and-coming artist such as Bruno Mars than for established stars such as Rihanna, Katy Perry and Coldplay, promoters say. Ms. Perry, for example, sold 92% of the tickets to the concerts she headlined from May to July, grossing more than $36 million, according to Pollstar. Rihanna grossed $141.9 million on 90 shows around the world in 2013; Coldplay grossed $171.3 million on 67 global dates on their last tour in 2012, according to Pollstar.

The NFL typically covers the halftime performers' travel and production expenses, which can run well into the millions. PepsiCo Inc. PEP -0.31% will be the title sponsor of the show for the third consecutive year in 2015, but doesn't "sign or work any deals with the talent selected," said a Pepsi spokeswoman.

Maybe she wouldn't pay?

The greed of the NFL is just RIDICULOUS.

Let's all stop supporting this mess of a 'sport', since all that it does is just result in brain damage anyway (and only those players that seem to have 'enforcers' backing them up [as in hockey] get out of this with intact crainums.)

One day guys we gonna miss the pre-"Pay to Play" Super Bowl Halftime shows, Prince, Springsteen, Bruno... hell, even Madonna.

I mean why paying for an artist to play? Isn't he/she getting MAXIMUM EXPOSURE already!! And why are they saying they're paying because Katy or Rihanna or Coldplay are established artists who don't need exposure unlike Bruno (which is true), but then again so is Beyoncé and Madonna.

This is either a dumb NFL move or a bad stab at sarcasm... Instead of figuring out how much money they're going to pay they should've already picked a good act who can put on a good show (Even if Bruno is a tough act to follow)

UncleJam said:

The greed of the NFL is just RIDICULOUS.

True, and I love pro football. To me, it's the best American sport. But the only organizations greedier than the NFL are the NCAA, FIFA & Congress.

Originally I was totally against this but I told the mom about this this morning and she said that the artists have the cash, so why not make them pay? I agree with her to an extent; already established acts like Rihanna, Katy, and Coldplay definitely have the money and should be charged to perform. I think legends should be an exception to this out of respect for what they've done in music and the impact they still have today. Up and coming stars like Bruno need the push and exposure more than a Beyonce or a Jay Z or a Kanye or a Timberlake or an Eminem, etc., etc. who can foot the bill much more easily.

However, I still don't think the NFL should be horning in on the performers' ticket sales/ tour revenue, at least not in addition to the fee they paid to perform in the first place.

And Coldplay? This halftime show looks like the perfect opportunity for a post-church nap.

[Edited 8/20/14 8:29am]

The only reason I watched the majority of Super Bowl games that I have watched were for the halftime shows. Prince 2007, need I say more? Okay, I will. If the privilege of performing the Super Bowl halftime show becomes something that can just be purchased, good luck with the Lil' Wayne Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus Freaktackular that I so will not be watching.

With headliners like Rhianna and Katy Perry, they would have to pay me to watch that trash!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

The only reason I watched the majority of Super Bowl games that I have watched were for the halftime shows. Prince 2007, need I say more? Okay, I will. If the privilege of performing the Super Bowl halftime show becomes something that can just be purchased, good luck with the Lil' Wayne Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus Freaktackular that I so will not be watching.

So glad my bae Bruno got to play without paying before they changed and started making ppl pay!

They should make the performers devote 5 of their 12 minutes to singing about how much they love Pepsi, or the great deal they got on Expedia.

My question is why? The NFl makes billions and billions in tv revenue. They have so much more money than even the biggest pop star. I actually think it's unfair they only pay travel and production expenses. They should pay artists for performing like artists are paid for every other concert or live performance.

As far as making artist pay, this is going to limit the kind of artists they get. There are some older artists who have hits people love but maybe can't afford to pay the NFL some big fee.

I guess the NFL thinks they are doing these artists some big service by putting them on the halftime show. But there are lots of people who maybe are a fan of a given artist but aren't otherwise into sports but will tune in to see their favorite artist so it works both ways.

I've never watched an entire half-time show... I may peek at it. That was a time to mess around on the couch or get more beer and/or food. If groups are silly enough to pat to play... that's on them.

None of these mega star acts need the exposure. Maybe if they always invited the American Idol runner-ups to perform, I would see their point.

I am guessing Madonna, for example, did actually sink of her own money in for her outrageous spectacle.

But NFL eyeing FUTURE TOUR REVENUES, that is offensive.

TD3 said:

Maybe it's time to just forget the big half-time show and just go back to the kids particpate in the "Punt, Pass or Kick" competitions, those were fun to watch.

Cinny said:

bobzilla77 said:

They should make the performers devote 5 of their 12 minutes to singing about how much they love Pepsi, or the great deal they got on Expedia.

I just read this

Good one!!!

MotownSubdivision said:

Cinny said:

None of these mega star acts need the exposure. Maybe if they always invited the American Idol runner-ups to perform, I would see their point.

I am guessing Madonna, for example, did actually sink of her own money in for her outrageous spectacle.

But NFL eyeing FUTURE TOUR REVENUES, that is offensive.

Who's going to pay for the American Idol contestants to perform? I think if they are to go that route, then the performer(s) shouldn't be charged anything (not that anybody should be getting charged to perform in the first place). I think this whole idea is stupid but the way I see it is that for the artists who are the closest things we have to mega stars nowadays who are trying to get some exposure for a project or tour of their's, they should be the only ones having to foot a bill to perform since they've got more than enough cash to do it.

My point was these mega artists don't need the exposure at the Superbowl to sell their tour, but some non-stars or upstarts or never was's might actually benefit from it.

My point was these mega artists don't need the exposure at the Superbowl to sell their tour, but some non-stars or upstarts or never was's might actually benefit from it.

Yeah but people wouldn't tune in to watch has-beens or new artists.

It's an interesting question. You would think it should be easy, it's a very win-win for the NFL and the musicians. The NFL gets more viewers on its biggest night, and the star gets massive free publicity. But now it's like, they want the stars to give money to the NFL? The NFL gets to benefit from the star being there but the star doesn't even even get the benefit of a nice payday from their tour? The NFL wants people to work for free to give money to the NFL on Superbowl day?

I would HOPE the artists all boycott it and they go back to Up With People and college marching bands for a year.

bobzilla77 said:

I would HOPE the artists all boycott it and they go back to Up With People and college marching bands for a year.

The average fan of football probably doesn't really care who the performer is. I doubt that macho guys were interested in Carol Channing or Diana Ross. NFL fans will watch the game anyway. Football draws many types of people and the halftime acts won't appeal to all of them, no matter who it is. The folks who only watch the halftime show won't make a big dent in NFL profits.

Cinny said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Cinny said:

My point was these mega artists don't need the exposure at the Superbowl to sell their tour, but some non-stars or upstarts or never was's might actually benefit from it.

I understand where you're coming from and I agree but with the context of having to pay in order to perform at the Super Bowl, then how are the American Idol contestants going to be covered? Will Fox being forking over the dough in this scenario?

According to the NFL, being on the Superbowl is such a boon to future concert ticket sales that the NFL feels they deserve a cut. So that's where.

A performer paying an organization (especially one as batsh!t lucrative as ther NFL) to perform is somewhat of a misnomer. Nowhere in the history of civilization has or should a performer pay for the privlege to perform. You PAY performers to perform. And come to find out they don't even pay the performer anyways (I kinda figured they didn't), so what's the big deal? If performers agree to this then a new level of stupid has manifested in the world.

The Super Bowl halftime show, which this year featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars,

I don't know who wrote that sentence but they SERIOUSLY need to leave 1996 and join us in 2014

Nowhere in the history of civilization has or should a performer pay for the privlege to perform. You PAY performers to perform.

I wish you booked the clubs on the Sunset Strip. Many of them make a band put out anywhere from $300-800 for a weeknight slot. Theyl'll give you pre-sale tickets, so theoretically you could get 100 of your friends to pay, and it wouldn't cost you anything, but from what I know, people shell out hundreds of bucks out of their pockets for those shows, on the regular.

In those cases, the bands are paying to act like rock stars. They get to play at a fancy club with a nice pro PA system, on a stage where legends have performed. They think the presidents of the record labels hang out there, just waiting for a hot new band to come along and get signed.

And it's no secret that opening slots on big arena tours have been put up for sale. You too could have played on OZZFEST if the price was right! And in what should be a surprise to no one, it is also widely reported that you have to pay Gene Simmons in order to open for KISS.

The NFL players should pay to play on the field before and after the concert everyone wants to watch.

bobzilla77 said:

Nowhere in the history of civilization has or should a performer pay for the privlege to perform. You PAY performers to perform.

I wish you booked the clubs on the Sunset Strip. Many of them make a band put out anywhere from $300-800 for a weeknight slot. Theyl'll give you pre-sale tickets, so theoretically you could get 100 of your friends to pay, and it wouldn't cost you anything, but from what I know, people shell out hundreds of bucks out of their pockets for those shows, on the regular.

In those cases, the bands are paying to act like rock stars. They get to play at a fancy club with a nice pro PA system, on a stage where legends have performed. They think the presidents of the record labels hang out there, just waiting for a hot new band to come along and get signed.

And it's no secret that opening slots on big arena tours have been put up for sale. You too could have played on OZZFEST if the price was right! And in what should be a surprise to no one, it is also widely reported that you have to pay Gene Simmons in order to open for KISS.

Yup, afraid that the 'pay to play' scam is red hot over here in dear old England too. My band refuses to do these sorts of gigs on principle. This does, admittedly, limit our bookings, but at least we have our pride and our wallets intact.

Very disheartening to see that this bullocks goes on at every level of the industry, even it seems at the toppermost of the poppermost. Is there any other branch of the entertainment biz where performers are routinely screwed so hard> Or even any other profession anywhere?