Coldplay, Rihanna, and Katy Perry asked to pay to play the Super Bowl halftime show

By Marah Eakin | August 19, 2014 | 6:34pm

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Rihanna, Katy Perry, or Coldplay might be doing the Super Bowl halftime show this year—that is, if they’re willing to pay up. According to The Wall Street Journal, the NFL has narrowed down its list of potential performers for the 2015 gig to those three candidates, though it’s also asking “at least some of the acts” if they’d be willing to pay the league for the privilege of playing the halftime show—something that’s absolutely insane, but not 100 percent unreasonable, considering how many people actually watch the performance. Alternately (and this is where it gets wacky), they should “be willing to contribute a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income to the league.”

While the Super Bowl halftime show is obviously a choice gig, the idea that the NFL thinks it should then be owed part of Katy Perry’s tour revenue is laughable. If anything, it seems like Perry’s touring potential would only diminish after the show, after all her casual fans catch the few songs they want to see during her seven-minute halftime slot for free. Of course, the NFL could point to Beyoncé’s post-Super Bowl tour earnings as an example of how the halftime show can ramp up revenue—but that’s an anomaly, helped by the fact that Beyoncé hadn’t been on in the road in years, and by being Beyoncé.