UPDATE: NFL & Pepsi Deny Offering Adele The Super Bowl Halftime Show
UPDATE: Despite video footage, the NFL and Pepsi responded to Adele's statements that she would not be performing in the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show by saying that she was never offered the performance. "The NFL and Pepsi are big fans of Adele," said both companies in a conjoined released to Billboard. "We have had conversations with several artists about the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show. However, we have not at this point extended a formal offer to Adele or anyone else."
Super Bowl 51 will take place at Houston's NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017.
Original story can be read below.
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Adele was rumored to be performing at next year's Super Bowl, but the multiple Grammy Award-winner has revealed that she turned down the offer.
During her Saturday concert in Los Angeles, she told the audience that she declined the opportunity to perform during the halftime show.
"I’m not doing the Super Bowl. I mean, come on, that show is not about music," she said. And I don’t really...I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no.”
The Super Bowl is regularly ranked as the most watched show of the year on TV, and the halftime show is even more primetime. Prince, Bono, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and most recently, Beyoncé have all taken the stage for legendary performances the biggest sporting event of the year. Around 100 million people watch the performance, according to Forbes - and the show has a huge impact on the artists' album and ticket sales.
That's why in 2014, news surfaced that the NFL wanted to charge artists to perform, whether through a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income or through "some other type of financial contribution." The reports were quieted down later, but the NFL still doesn't pay the performers; they only cover production and traveling costs.
That's not to say that Adele turned down the gig because of the lack of financial incentive. She's right: the Super Bowl isn't about music. But it's still stunning to see an artist turn down a chance to perform for one of the biggest audiences possible.