Why Bad Bunny won’t be paid to perform in front of millions at the Super Bowl

The Puerto Rican rapper will be taking the stage February 8

Bad Bunny is preparing to take the stage for the 2026 Super Bowl for one of the biggest performances of his career, and he won’t be paid a cent for it.

The 31-year-old — real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — was tapped to headline this year’s halftime show, sparking backlash from among the MAGA crowd, including some of Donald Trump’s most loyal followers, who have labeled the Puerto Rican rapper and singer a “massive Trump hater,” an “anti-ICE activist,” and slammed him for having “no songs in English.”

While many may assume the “Tití Me Preguntó” singer may be receiving a large paycheck for his performance, halftime show performers do not receive any compensation.

Outside of the union-mandated minimum of a few hundred dollars that will be absorbed into overall production costs, the NFL does not pay halftime headliners, as the musicians largely rely on the exposure they receive from the large appearance, according to Forbes.

Last year, following Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, seen by an average of 133.5 million viewers during Super Bowl 2025, his song “Not Like Us” saw a 430 percent increase in streams.

This year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, Bad Bunny, will be part of the longstanding tradition in which the headliner is compensated in exposure and not money (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Rihanna also saw a massive surge in music sales and streams, as well as sales for her cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, following her 2023 Super Bowl halftime performance.

Immediately after her exceptional concert, the “Umbrella” pop star saw her Spotify streams increase by 640 percent. It’s estimated that within just 12 hours of her performance, she had racked up $88.3 million in media impact value, according to brand performance insight tool Launchmetrics.

Others also benefited as Lady Gaga saw her album and song sales increase by 1000 percent as a result of her 2017 performance, and Jennifer Lopez additionally gained 2.3 million new Instagram followers after her 2020 Super Bowl halftime appearance with Shakira.

The production cost of the halftime show comes with a high price tag, with the NFL and Apple Music oftentimes putting down around $10 million to cover the cost of the staffers involved in the production, as well as the elaborate sets and audio equipment.

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In 2021, The Weeknd reportedly spent $7 million of his own money to put on the show, as did Dr. Dre the year before that.

This year’s Super Bowl LX, taking place February 8 in Santa Clara, California, will see the New England Patriots face off against the Seattle Seahawks.

The two teams previously played against each other in 2015, which saw the Patriots come out on top with a final score of 28-24.