Julian Dakdouk-Parkwood Entertainment via Imagn Images
Netflix pulled out all the stops by tapping Beyoncé for the halftime show when the Ravens and the Texans faced off on Christmas last year. The singer also went all out for that performance, but it had the potential to be a fairly costly one based on the fines the NFL informed her she’d have to pay over a certain type of wardrobe malfunction.
It’s been three years since Amazon Prime became the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football, and it was only natural that Netflix eventually decided to use some of the billions of dollars at its disposal to get in on the action as well.
We got our first glimpse at what seems poised to be a new era of NFL broadcasting last year when the streaming platform aired a double-header that featured the Chiefs facing off against the Steelers in Pittsburgh before the Texans hosted the Ravens in Houston.
That second showdown was a lopsided blowout for the home team that ended up on the wrong side of the 31-2 result, but Netflix was able to salvage what ended up being a snoozefest thanks to Beyoncé, the superstar who previously performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2013 and headed back to the city where she was born and raised to perform some songs from Cowboy Carter.
Viewers were treated to the kind of spectacle you’d expect from an international music icon who’s been performing for three decades, which included an all-white outfit studded with the gems that had the NFL slightly worried ahead of the game.
The NFL threatened to fine Beyoncé $500 for every rhinestone that fell off of her outfit during the halftime show at the Ravens-Texans game
Beyoncé’s halftime show was a massive production that involved over 500 performers getting in on the action during an act she kicked off while riding a horse into NRG Stadium while clad in a Roberto Cavalli coat she took off to reveal a custom body suit studded with hundreds of crystals connected to her similarly blinged-out Louboutin boots.
According to US Weekly, those sparkly adornments atttracted the attention of the NFL prior to her performance, as a source told the outlet her team agreed to pay the league a $500 fine for each crystal that was discovered on the turf if they happened become dislodged while she was doing her thing, saying, “It’s for players’ safety because anything like that on the field could cause injury.”
Netflix has not confirmed how much Beyoncé was paid, but when you consider some sources assert she netted $20 million, she probably wasn’t too concerned.