Some Super Bowl performers make less than $1K for the event

The general public cannot buy Super Bowl tickets at face value

The NFL controls every Super Bowl ticket, distributing none through a general public sale; after allotments to teams, players, sponsors, and the league, only about 11,600 tickets—roughly 16%—are available to fans at face value, mostly via team lotteries.

The first Super Bowl halftime show featured marching bands and two men on jetpacks

At Super Bowl I, the halftime show featured college marching bands, a rifle drill team, and two performers flying jetpacks, in an era before music stars and spectacle defined the break.

Super Bowl halftime shows reliably drive massive music sales spikes

Since Michael Jackson’s 1993 performance, halftime headliners have seen major increases in sales and streams—from Prince to Lady Gaga. Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 show was no exception, as it was the most-watched halftime performance on record.

A 30-second Super Bowl 2026 ad is expected to cost $8M

By 2026, a single 30-second Super Bowl ad is projected to cost $8M. Advertisements for Super Bowl I in 1967 cost from $37,500 to $42,500 for a 30-second spot.

Janet Jackson's 2004 halftime show sparked a broadcast backlash

During Super Bowl XXXVIII, Justin Timberlake tore part of Janet Jackson's costume during the halftime finale, exposing her breast. The moment triggered widespread controversy, negative career repercussions for Jackson, FCC fines, and stricter standards for live television broadcasts.

Kendrick Lamar brought his Drake feud to the Super Bowl stage

At the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans, Kendrick Lamar leaned into his high-profile feud with Drake, turning months of diss-track drama into one of the most discussed performances in recent Super Bowl history.

Some found the Temu ‘Shop Like a Billionaire’ Super Bowl ads out of place in the Big Game

“It had no A-list celebrities or beloved cultural touchstones; not a single heartstring was tugged,” wrote one writer of the Temu ad that aired five times during the 2024 Super Bowl.

The decline in value of the NFL running back

Running backs long held the role of superstar on NFL teams, carrying their team down by down to the endzone. Their salaries reflected that importance as well. But in the last 30 years, front offices and fans have taken more to the quarterback instead, who receives much higher salaries. This podcast episode breaks down the economics of the turn in the game's focus from rushing to passing.

Hear the stories behind each Super Bowl ring from the past 59 champions

Super Bowl rings are championship jewelry given to players, coaches, and staff to commemorate a title. Over time, they’ve grown dramatically—from the Packers’ 1966 ring with a single half-carat diamond to modern designs featuring nearly 10 carats.

The Chicago Bears are the only professional sports team to score a Billboard Hot 100 hit

The 1985 track "The Super Bowl Shuffle" was recorded for charity, but the song (with its rudimentary raps and goofy taunts) became an unexpected hit, reaching No. 41 on the Hot 100 chart. This podcast digs into the history of the song and how it became an unexpected pop culture phenomenon.

Whitney Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl rendition is often called the definitive version of the national anthem

Houston’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from Super Bowl XXV is a rather straightforward take on Francis Scott Key’s song, if you consider Houston’s impeccable vocal delivery “straightforward.” The song was released as in 1991 to benefit soldiers and families of the Persian Gulf War and then again in 2001 to benefit firefighters and victims of September 11 terrorist attacks.

Top creators get paid millions of dollars per post

From the Kardashians to the world’s top soccer players, a handful of celebrities average hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, per sponsored post. But brands aren’t willing to shell out that money for a high follower count alone. Creators must have high engagement rates on their content, too.

Peloton pays artists more for music than most streaming platforms

Since the on-demand classes are technically live performances, Peloton has to pay both for the rights to the song itself and for the right to actually play the song. As a result, Peloton pays more money than many other streaming platforms to use artists' music, with some reports saying Apple Music reportedly pays 0.1 cents per stream and Peloton pays 3.1 cents per stream.

Hosting the NFL Draft comes with hidden public safety costs

The economic upside of hosting the Draft—Detroit reported $214 million in impact in 2024—depends on months of behind-the-scenes work. Coordinating law enforcement, emergency medical services, and traffic control entails real public costs that rarely make the headlines.

Professional and amateur athletes have used the anthem as an opportunity to protest

Colin Kaepernick’s protests during NFL games weren’t the first instances of athletes using the pregame tradition to make a political statement. This history walks through several similar instances, highlighting several lesser-known instances.

Minor leaguers once unionized for better pay, housing, and medical care

For decades, Minor League baseball players endured overcrowded housing, indifferent medical care, and all-night bus rides for a chance to make it to “The Show.” And they did it for as little as $4,800 a year.

K-pop idols have reduced rights due to their contracts

In 2024, the South Korean government ruled that celebrities are not entitled to the same rights as workers. This decision was made in response to the band NewJeans, whose members raised concerns about workplace harassment. The South Korean labor ministry instead found that the content of their contracts indicates that they do not hold the same legal status as other workers in the country. The dispute highlights the ongoing debate about the entertainment industry's treatment of idols.

At just over $1K, Mississippi has the lowest average weekly wage in the country

The mean weekly wage in the US is $1,459—more than a $1K difference from Washington, DC, where the average weekly wage is nearly $2.4K. Also among the highest earning states are Washington, Massachusetts, and California. Likewise, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas have the lowest weekly averages.

Grammy snubs and losses have generated controversy over the years

While there’s always some friction when major award nominees are announced from those who believe a favorite has been snubbed, the Grammys have attracted quite a bit of pushback in the last few years. Much of the controversy centers around the show’s purported unequal treatment of artists of color, particularly Black artists.

What it means to be an opening act

Most people assume opening for a major act will propel a smaller artist's career. While that can be the case, this academic study from a Drexel University professor offers some objective data that suggests mixed results. In short, there's no guarantee that an opening slot on a big tour will enhance an artist's popularity—or their income.

The money behind Eurovision

Countries pay to take part in Eurovision, with the biggest economies—Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain, also known as the Big Five—paying the most. That unequal entry fee is not entirely for charity's sake: The Big Five countries are guaranteed spots in Eurovision's finals.

Read about how reality TV show prizes have been diluted by inflation

The TV show "Survivor," for instance, premiered in 2000, and the $1M prize money hasn't increased since. Adjusted for inflation, the value of $1M in 2000 is about $519K in 2026.

A typical weekend at Coachella can cost thousands of dollars

Coachella might be a cutting-edge cultural event, but it doesn't come for free. Beyond the high ticket prices—which typically start around $500—there are other costs, like lodging, food, and libations. This article spotlights four attendees who break down their expenses for the week and why, despite the hefty price tag, they were so interested in heading to the desert.

Mall Santas can make five-figures for just six weeks of work

The annual gig requires more dedication than most would expect. Mall Santas undergo training at Santa University, receive a bodyguard, and must stay in character.

Broadway's superfans unite at BroadwayCon

Like ComicCon for theater lovers, BroadwayCon convenes annually in New York and offers panels, meet-and-greets, and, of course, singalongs. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.