Beyoncé brought the house down on Christmas Day with a jaw-dropping halftime performance during Netflix’s historic live broadcast of the Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens game. But the real headline? The superstar pocketed a staggering $20 million for the show—just one piece of a groundbreaking $60 million deal she struck with Netflix in 2019, solidifying her reign as both a music icon and a business powerhouse.
The Netflix broadcast, a first of its kind, follows the recent Tyson vs. Paul fight, is part of a $150 million licensing deal with the NFL.
The Netflix Deal
Marking the first project within the $60 million agreement, Beyoncé released her Coachella concert documentary called “Homecoming.”
The Houston native performed songs from Cowboy Carter, including “16 Carriages” and her cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” featuring four Black female other country singers Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer. It featured cameos by rapper Post Malone and Nigerian-American country sensation Shaboozey, along with a heartwarming line dance along with her daughter, Blue Ivy. Many have called the show, with it very intentional sets, a cultural statement not only about Blacks in country music but also about the Black-American experience.
Social media is filled with criticism, mainly white female conservatives, bashing the performance, complaining about a range of issues– from Beyonce not being a country singer to finger-pointing over the sexual assault lawsuit Jay-Z is facing. Then there is the online rant by Dave Portnoy, Trump supporter and Bar Stool mogul, who claimed the superstar singer was “LOST” without Destiny’s Child.
On top of this, a finger gesture made by Beyoncé when she pretended to shoot a gun during the end of the show has sparked calls from some for the singer and Netflix to be penalized for the banned gesture.
Despite this, the profitable performance was mostly praised, with many saying it the Super Bowl worthy. But Beyonce has been there and doe that. She performed at the Super Bowl for free–as do all artists in 2013 and famously caused a power outage.
Controversy or not, the latest Christmas stream attracted an average of more than 28 million viewers to Netflix’s 283 million global subscribers, according to The New York Times.
The deal between Netflix and Beyoncé reportedly consists of three projects. $20 million has been given for “Homecoming,” another $20 million is purportedly for the Cowboy Carter halftime show, and the remaining $20 million is still unknown, with details regarding its release and format yet to be revealed.
“If we believe this to be true, then that’s $20 million specifically for this [halftime] performance,” Dan Ruchie, founder of Trapital, a company that provides insights into music and sports, told Andscape.
