13 minutes, $13 million

The logistics of pulling off a Super Bowl halftime show

NEW YORK – The popular Super Bowl halftime show is only 13 minutes long, but the million-dollar-a-minute extravaganza takes thousands of people, months of planning and near military precision to pull off.

Organizers have the Herculean task of turning a football field into a concert venue and back in less than half an hour, and without damaging the playing surface.

Halftime at Sunday’s 54th Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs in Miami was headlined by Latina pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and also featured surprise artists and other ensemble singers.

Pepsico sponsered the show for the eighth straight year. A source with direct knowledge of the show said it cost about $13 million, a figure an NFL spokeswoman declined to confirm.

“There are so many aspects of it, the dancers, the lighting elements, the special effects,” said Dan Parise, a producer working with Roc Nation, the entertainment company producing the show with the National Football League. “It’s like a big jigsaw puzzle.” The work starts almost a year in advance, said Mark Quenzel, the NFL’S senior vice president for programming and production. Organizers scout the venue for logistical hurdles or unique structural elements they could use to their advantage.

In 2014, for example, producers had to keep Bruno Mars’ show relatively simple, because it was impossible to predict field conditions at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, a rare outdoor cold weather Super Bowl. This year, said Parise, a newly renovated overhang at Hard Rock Stadium allowed for deployment of more advanced audio equipment.

All in, the production takes 2,000 to 3,000 people to produce, said Quenzel, who is on his 10th halftime show.

Like past performances, this year’s show included an onfield “audience” of some 800 people, mostly kids from local schools who are cast in advance, and must rehearse with the artists. Often, they are asked to play a larger role than that of cheering fans. During Justin Timberlake’s 2018 rendition of “Mirrors,” the on-field crowd held up mirrors to reflect stadium lights.

LIKE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

The biggest feat of coordination is setting up the stage, which is wheeled in on 38 separate carts, each requiring 12 people to move. Another 18 carts, with 6-member teams, carry the audio equipment.

Like air traffic controllers, team leaders wearing headsets direct each team. A stage piece ending up in the wrong place, even by an inch or two, could be disastrous, Quenzel said.

The setup takes eight minutes, with the show itself lasting about 13. Removing the stage takes just over six minutes, Quenzel said, before the teams retake the field.

During the show, behindthe-scenes personnel wait in predetermined spots to carry away clothing during wardrobe changes that must be executed down to the second, Quenzel said. “Part of the art of the show is what we don’t show you, what you don’t see,” he said.