While the Material Girl sees no problem with her fans saving up all year to drop 300 + for a ticket to her upcoming tour she had absolutely no qualms rocking the Super Bowl halftime for free. Actually, this charitable approach from the performer shouldn’t be a surprise as it’s actually the in vogue thing to do these days.
What it comes down to is publicity and short of having a #Winning Sheen level meltdown you can’t get more pub than being the big act at the Superbowl, even if M.I.A. does decide to flick off the world and steal some of your spotlight. While corporations drop millions for just a few seconds of ad time during the big game, Madonna was able to get 12 minutes of unfiltered face time to promote her brand, her.
As Forbes points out, Volkswagen paid 3.5 mil for a 30sec spot. Do the math for Madge’s time on air and that comes out to a whopping 84 mil value. In addition you get all the hype and any additional publicity leading up to the game which is just more incentive for the artist. Even if this does involve a seriously awkward Q&A…
So while Madonna may have done the gig for “free” in the end the financial gain should prove to be a serious boom, especially since her performance is being received positively overall.
There are many who believe that this trend of playing for free will change because there’s so much value in it that artists will pay the NFL for the opportunity. Just like a prayer, a successful stand at the Super Bowl can have you thanking your lucky star.
Photo: Splashnews
