How much Bad Bunny is getting for Super Bowl halftime show

When Bad Bunny stepped onto the Super Bowl LX halftime stage on February 8, 2026, the whole world tuned in. Whether an American football fan or not, the whole world took notice — not just for the music, but because everyone was also wondering about the impact of his performance.

Apart from becoming a cultural phenomenon, there’s also another important aspect of such a large-scale, standout performance: it’s the money!How much exactly did Bad Bunny make for this one-of-a-kind Super Bowl halftime performance? Sure, you might expect a massive payday, considering how huge the show is. But honestly, his paycheck will probably surprise you.

How much did Bad Bunny make from the show?

Turns out, Bad Bunny isn’t getting millions from the NFL for this performance.

The league doesn’t actually pay performers the way you’d think. And what’s more striking is that they’ve always done it this way. Instead of a giant salary, halftime headliners just get the minimum that unions require — usually about USD 1,000 a day for rehearsals and the big show. That’s it. No giant appearance fee. At least, not from the NFL.

The enduring tradition of the NFL

As it seems, this has been the deal for decades. This whole setup started back in the early ’90s, when the halftime show turned from marching bands into the wild pop spectacle it is now.

That’s when the NFL started betting that the exposure alone would be enough payment for any artist. And they weren’t wrong. No headliner since then has gotten a real performance fee. The thinking is, if you play the Super Bowl, you get seen by more people than almost any other moment in your career.

That’s the trade-off.The NFL covers all those insane production costs — the lights, the stage, the wild props, all the travel, and hotel bills. And those costs can hit USD 10–15 million, sometimes more. That means the artist doesn’t have to worry about staging or travel. Some performers, like The Weeknd, have even spent their own cash to make their show even bigger. But in the end, there’s still no traditional paycheckEven huge names like Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, or Bruce Springsteen played the Super Bowl for the union minimum.

It’s always been about the exposure, not the check.Bottom line: everything else is paid for, except for the performance itself.So, yeah, Bad Bunny certainly played one of TV’s biggest stages, with a global audience in the hundreds of millions. But the NFL didn’t hand out giant checks for it. The only money Bad Bunny got came from that union wage, while the league footed the bill for everything else.

Why do artists say yes to the NFL?

So why do artists still say yes? It’s the prestigious deal itself: the NFL pays for the spectacle, the artist gets the world’s attention.The exposure is just too big to pass up. Over 100 million people in the United States alone watch the halftime show. That kind of spotlight can send your streaming numbers, album sales, and concert tickets through the roof. It can introduce you to a whole new crowd.As for Bad Bunny, he’s fresh off a Grammy win and dominating the streaming charts. The Super Bowl halftime show just added another feather to his legacy. Sure, he didn’t get his usual multi-million-dollar touring fee, but the exposure? You can’t put a price on that.In fact, for a lot of artists, the promotional boost is worth way more than any check the NFL could write. For example, Kendrick Lamar set the record with 133.5 million viewers in 2025, while Usher's 2024 performance drew 123.4 million viewers. Previously, Rihanna's 2023 show hit 121 million viewers. Lamar's show beat out Michael Jackson's Super Bowl 27 performance for the most-watched ever. In fact, it drew more viewers than the game itself.This year, however, we’ve yet to see how big a crowd Bad Bunny managed to pull.