Why Kendrick Lamar wasn't paid for his huge Super Bowl halftime show

Here's the reason why Kendrick Lamar wasn't paid for his Super Bowl halftime show at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans yesterday (February 9).

While the Philadelphia Eagles soared to a 40-22 victory against Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIX, what happens on the NFL field tells only half the story.

We also saw Taylor Swift being 'aggressively booed' and surprise appearances from Donald Trump and Samuel L Jackson.

But, of course, the main reason why many people tuned in was to see Kendrick Lamar's halftime show.

It's not Lamar's first time at the halftime show as he'd previously stepped out alongside Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2022 - but this time, it'll be his stage - with SZA since having being confirmed as a guest performer.

It's fair to say Lamar didn't disappoint, with many on tenterhooks as to if he would play his controversial Drake diss 'Not Like Us' (he did, but censored the track's most controversial line).

He also invited Serena Williams on stage, which particularly got people talking as the tennis star was rumored to have dated Drake back in 2011.

But many people will be wondering how much cold hard cash Lamar will be taking home.

How much do Super Bowl halftime performers get paid?

Kendrick Lamar didn't disappoint (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The NFL has said in the past it does not pay their artists - though they do cover expenses and production costs, according to NME.

New York resident Joe Pompliano, who authors a newsletter breaking down 'the money and business behind sports', shared a post on LinkedIn explaining how Super Bowl performers are compensated for their time.

According to Pompliano, Apple Music pays the NFL $50 million each year to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show, and artists involved get approximately $15 million to spend on their production.

The hefty budget is set to '2,000 to 3,000 part-time workers, including set design, security, dancers, and marketing', Pompliano went on, but it doesn't cover a wage for the artist.

Samuel L Jackson made a surprise appearance during Lamar's show (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

And while you may think why do artists decide to do the job for free, they do see benefits in other ways as a result of doing the Super Bowl halftime show.

For example, Forbes reports Usher saw a massive 550 percent boost in Spotify streaming after his performance last year, while Rihanna's streams went up by 640 following her gig in 2023.

The Super Bowl involves so much money - heck, some companies are reportedly willing to pay as much as $7 million for just 30 seconds of ad time at the mega sporting event, which only highlights how valuable that screen time is.