It’s that time of the year again where the biggest and most popular sports event in America prepares to settle us in for an intense fun game as well as the spectacle we know as the SuperBowl Halftime Show. 

Superbowl LVI will be taking place at the SoFi Stadium located in Inglewood, CA on February 13 where five Rap and R&B legends will be taking the stage: Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Dr. Dre.

As the NFL and Pepsi released the trailer announcing the lineup, I reached out to the president of the PepsiCo company, whose name shall remain anonymous for privacy concerns, asking what he thought about the event and the hype surrounding the Halftime Show, “The SuperBowl has always aimed to get more traction since, before, there used to be no such thing as the Halftime Show as it is known currently but they wanted to target a wider audience including different genders, ages, ethnicities, etc…I believe they gathered this specific group of artists to represent the West Coast since they are performing in LA just how they signed Shakira and Jennifer Lopez for the Super Bowl taking place in Miami–targeting the audience of the area the event is taking place in. ”

At that moment I realized, that through those targeted techniques, they were able to catch my attention as well as make us forget there was such a time when the show as it is now didn’t even exist. So, I let my curiosity take over and I started to do some research to break down some facts you probably didn’t know about the Super Bowl Halftime Show:

1. The Halftime Show Headliners Were Not Always Pop Stars

Before the Halftime Show was lined up with singers like Beyoncé and Coldplay, a more Broadway-musical style spectacle would take place during the short break from actors to college marching bands. Unfortunately, networks noticed they weren’t gaining traction–instead they were setting records for the most viewers to tune off– so they decided to start switching it up.

2. Trial and error

Trying to raise ratings, the Super Bowl tried to host different and new performances which unfortunately were never able to hit the target number of viewers and it’s no surprise why. They went from trying themes like Winter Wonderland in 1992 where they had figure skaters perform on a special stage alongside two singers—many of the viewers found the sport lame during that time so many tuned off. The worst of all: an Elvis impersonator-magician who performed a huge 3D card trick…it was cheesier than it sounds. After much trial and error, they decided to switch it up.

3. The King of Pop Paves the Way 

The real game-changer was in 1993 when Michael Jackson was booked to perform at halftime giving the SuperBowl their first-ever increase in ratings at halftime. He was able to attract 100 million viewers—higher than the number of viewers watching the actual game. From there on out, there was a conscious effort to reach out to top pop talent that was later on cooled off by Michael’s sister Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction the following year so the reach spread to other genres like rock. 

4. Performing for… Free?!

Surprisingly, Halftime performers don’t get paid to perform. They are only given production expenses and their pay is being able to enjoy a boost in record sales and media buzz whether it’s good or bad. A huge example of this is Katy Perry who in the week ending Feb. 1 — the day of the big game — Perry’s albums and song downloads earned a 92 percent sales gain in the United States, according to Nielsen Music. Yet, not everyone was as fortunate as Janet Jackson who, after her wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake became viral, was constantly shamed and was even banned from performing at the Grammy’s that were the following week. Definitely, some risky business but well worth it when you get the better end of the stick. 

5. The Most Watched Superbowl Halftime Show

Currently, Katy Perry holds the first place rank for the most-watched halftime show so far with an impressive 118.5 million viewers tuning in. From entering the stadium in a huge metallic lion to sing her song “Roar” as well as dancing with dancers in shark costumes to “California Girls,” she left a huge impact including a viral meme of the so-called “Left Shark” whose un-synchronized dance moves won over the audience.

Now, thanks to an ever-growing tradition, we will be able to enjoy a new lineup that could maybe try to snatch up Katy Perry’s record as they are bringing back some rap and R&B classics. Let’s hope these stars–Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Dr. Dre, and Kendrick Lamar– rock the house just as much as the teams who will be competing at this exciting event we are all waiting to see continue on to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy of the SuperBowl LVI.