How the Super Bowl halftime show performer is chosen, and why they aren’t paid

The Super Bowl halftime show is the biggest single stage in music, watched live by well over 100 million Americans. Yet the headliner is not picked by public vote or by the league alone, and they are not paid a normal fee. This guide explains how the Super Bowl halftime show performer is chosen, who makes the final call, why stars do it for almost nothing, and what we know about the 2027 show. Current as of 2 October 2026.

By Editorial Team

The short answer

• Who chooses: Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation, the NFL’s live music partner since 2019. Jay-Z is entrusted with deciding the headliner, and Roc Nation then takes its choice to a small group at the NFL.
• Who sponsors it: Apple Music has been the presenting sponsor since 2023, replacing Pepsi.
• Are performers paid? No appearance fee. Headliners receive union scale, the minimum rate for union performers.
• When is it announced? Usually in late summer or early autumn. Bad Bunny was named on 28 September 2025 for the February 2026 show.
• 2027: Super Bowl LXI is on 14 February 2027 at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles. As of 2 October 2026, no headliner has been announced.

How the Super Bowl halftime show performer is chosen

The best on-the-record account comes from Jon Barker, the NFL’s senior vice president and global head of major events, who walked The Athletic through the process in February 2026:

• The search starts straight after the previous Super Bowl. Barker said the artist is usually finalised by the end of summer or early autumn.
• Roc Nation leads. The league knows “which artists they’re talking to along the way”, Barker said, but Jay-Z decides. “When they come to the decision on who they believe to be the right artist, they bring that to a very small group of the NFL, and then we move forward from there.”
• The criteria: cultural relevance at the time of the show, a connection with the host city, entertainment value and global reach.
• The announcement is made jointly by the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation.

There is no public application, fan vote or published shortlist. Rumoured shortlists in the press come from unnamed sources and are rarely confirmed.

Why Roc Nation runs it

The NFL and Roc Nation announced a long-term partnership in August 2019 that made Jay-Z’s company the league’s “live music entertainment strategist”, including selecting and producing halftime acts. At the launch, Jay-Z called the old selection process “fractured”: several stars would be sounded out at once, one would be picked, and the rest would feel snubbed. He wanted a cleaner approach, where one artist is approached at a time and the search moves on only if they cannot do it.

The deal also had a social justice element. It came after years of controversy over players kneeling during the national anthem, a protest started by quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.

Since then the headliners have been:

Source: The Athletic; NFL.com for 2026.

Why stars play the Super Bowl halftime show for (almost) nothing

Headliners “do not receive a paycheck for their performance and are only required to make union scale”, The Athletic reported. The payoff is exposure. Barker pointed to the chance “to stand on a stage and reach 250 million people at one time”, before replays and social media.

The audience is enormous. Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 show is the most watched on record, with 133.5 million US viewers. Bad Bunny’s 2026 show averaged 128.2 million US viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, according to Nielsen figures reported by AP. Michael Jackson’s 1993 show is widely seen as the turning point: it was the first halftime show to draw more viewers than the game itself.

The flip side is scrutiny. Bad Bunny’s selection drew criticism from President Donald Trump and counter-programming from the conservative group Turning Point USA, The Athletic reported. Barker said there had been no “meaningful discussion” of politics before the choice. In September 2026, several outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that organisers were finding it harder to secure a 2027 headliner because artists were wary of that kind of attention. Neither the NFL nor Roc Nation has confirmed those reports.

Who pays for the production?

Pepsi sponsored the show for a decade before announcing in 2022 that it would step away. Apple Music took over from the 2023 show, headlined by Rihanna, which is why it is now billed as the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. We found no official figure for the cost of the production or the value of the Apple deal. For 2026, Roc Nation and Jesse Collins were executive producers and Hamish Hamilton directed, according to NFL.com.

How to watch from the UK, Canada and Europe

The halftime show happens live, partway through the game. In 2026 Nielsen measured it from 8:15pm to 8:30pm Eastern time, which was 1:15am to 1:30am in the UK. In the US, Super Bowl LXI will be shown by ESPN and ABC, according to ESPN. Broadcasters elsewhere vary by country, so check local listings closer to the game.

Halftime compared with other big music moments

The halftime show is one of the few major music events with no voting at all. The Grammys are decided by industry members (see how Grammy voting works), while Eurovision voting combines juries and viewers. For another giant annual celebrity event, see our guide to the Met Gala. A halftime slot can bring a burst of streams, but what an artist earns from them depends on the deals explained in how Spotify royalties work.

What to watch

Watch for a joint announcement from the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation for Super Bowl LXI on 14 February 2027 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Recent headliners were named in September, so an announcement in the coming weeks is likely but not guaranteed. More in Music and International Entertainment.

Photo credits: featured image, Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl LII halftime show (2018), by Brian Allen, Voice of America / Wikimedia Commons, public domain; in-article image by Arnie Papp / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Sources

• The Athletic: How Bad Bunny was chosen as the Super Bowl 60 halftime performer (1 February 2026)
• NFL.com: Bad Bunny to perform at Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show (28 September 2025)
• AP: Super Bowl averages 124.9 million; Bad Bunny’s halftime 128.2 million
• ESPN: Super Bowl 2027 date, venue and how to watch
• NFL.com: Los Angeles to host Super Bowl LXI in 2027
• Marca: reports on the 2027 headliner search (19 September 2026)