The Real Reason Shakira And Jennifer Lopez Didn't Get Paid For Super Bowl 2020

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira brought some sizzling Latin heat to the stage during the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show. Time will tell if their performance is remembered as one of the best of all time or among the most controversial in Super Bowl history, but one thing we do know is that these two aren't getting paid for the gig. According to Forbes, their "only monetary reward will be union scale and coverage of production costs." So were J.Lo and S.Ra (okay, so maybe Shakira doesn't have a snazzy, shortened nickname) ripped off by the NFL? 

Apparently not. Surprisingly, this is a normal deal for A-list stars who perform at the Super Bowl. "It's the same setup that acts from Bruno Mars to Beyoncé have agreed to in recent years — and though each is capable of commanding seven-figure nightly grosses for their solo live shows, they forgo payment on Super Bowl Sunday." Forbes explains that "Lopez typically grosses an average of $2.2 million per tour stop ... and Shakira pulls in $1.6 million, so they are certainly sacrificing hefty paydays." 

However, giving up that money will likely pay off in a big way...

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira weren't paid for their Super Bowl performance, but the big gig will likely make them some cheddar in other ways. If we look at what happened to past acts following their halftime shows, it's clear that the unpaid opportunity can be worth millions of dollars because it's "the single biggest promotional vehicle for a music star on the planet," an industry expert told Forbes.

"In the hour following the 2018 Super Bowl, halftime act Justin Timberlake saw a 214% spike in Spotify streams," Forbes reported. "That came the year after Lady Gaga saw a months-old album rocket all the way up to No. 2 on the Billboard charts in the wake of her big game performance, surging 60 spots in a week."

And despite facing backlash over its Super Bowl LIII performance, Maroon 5 "boosted" the average amount the band made in each city while on tour "by $200,000 to $1.7 million" after the Super Bowl and "Travis Scott, who shared the bill with the pop group ... nearly triple[d]" what he made the year before. Katy Perry's managers revealed that after her 2015 performance, "the singer doubled the number of opportunities ... from endorsement deals to movie roles," claiming that the big game "took her from being a big star to the stratosphere."

The gig is so lucrative that it's the performers who may eventually have to pay to play.

Stars clearly bring in jaw-dropping amounts of money after performing at the Super Bowl, which is a good thing because being picked as the half-time act may one day be a costly gig. There could come a time when performers will have to pay to play.

"The bump" that bands and solo acts reap following the show "is big enough that before [Katy] Perry's performance, rumors swirled that the NFL was considering charging acts for the privilege of playing on the big day," Forbes reported. It's not clear whether or not the performers would also be on the hook for production costs, which can reportedly surpass $10 million, according to a 2014 article in The Wall Street Journal. Considering the half time show "typically lasts somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes, that's a lot of money spent in a very short period of time."

Perry, for one, has outright rejected the idea of some sort of bidding war to win the chance to perform during America's Game. "I don't want an asterisk by my name for playing the Super Bowl for the rest of my life," Perry said. "I want to be able to say I played the Super Bowl based on my talents and my merit, thank you very much." 

Performing at the Super Bowl LIV free of charge definitely didn't put a drain on Shakira or Jennifer Lopez's wallets. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Shakira boasts a $300 million fortune and J.Lo has about $400 million to her name, so yah, these two aren't exactly starving artists. But they did invest a lot of sweat equity into their performance.

"The scope of this show is so grand, not just the actual size of the stage but also the size of the audience. I have prepared for months. I've trained physically and vocally harder than I ever have before. I don't take this opportunity for granted," Shakira told the Associated Press. "Not only do I want people to have the time of their lives, I want young Latin girls around the world to know this isn't an accident and this is something they too can achieve. Jennifer and I talked about that a lot. Symbolically this means so much to us."

You certainly can't put a price on that. Way to go, ladies.