Last year's Super Bowl halftime show had more viewers than the actual game and the freebie television extravaganza is so coveted by artists in the music industry, they schmooze the NFL long before a big name performer is secured for the gig.
But this year the National Football League is asking potential performers to pay to play the high-profile concert, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While the NFL is notorious for demanding — and receiving — major concessions from its Super Bowl host cities. Now it wants halftime performers, who typically perform for free in exchange for monumental publicity, to add a little more jingle to the wealthy football league's coin pouch.
The NFL, in seeking to book the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015 outside Phoenix, has reportedly asked the potential headliners to "contribute a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income to the league, or if they would make some other type of financial contribution, in exchange for the halftime gig, reported the WSJ.
The proposition has returned icy responses from the three final candidates: Katy Perry, Rihanna and Coldplay . The NFL does not usually pay the act that performs during the halftime ceremony, but has covered travel and production expenses, which can run into the multimillion-dollar range, The Journal reported.
Joanna Hunter, a spokeswoman for the NFL, said the league's goal is "to put on the best show possible."
A valuable promotional opportunity for any performer, the halftime show drew a record 115.3 million viewers last February when the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars took the stage. Some artists have used this platform to announce upcoming tour dates and boost ticket sales. Many also see a sharp increase in CD and download sales directly after the performance.
But shaking down Katy Perry? Think of the singer's 15-year-old girls demographic the NFL will lose for the big game.
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