As Super Bowl LVI, scheduled to be played February 13, inches nearer, the rise of COVID infections nationwide could endanger the whole event — which is extra bad news for Dr. Dre, who’s billed to play the heavily anticipated halftime show with his buddies Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg. According to TMZ, Dre stands to lose “millions” of dollars if the NFL pulls the plug on the event due to COVID concerns.
Unfortunately, that’s owed to an insurance provision that excludes outbreaks of sickness from policies. The Communicable Disease Exclusion — which dates back to the SARS outbreaks in the early 2000s — exempts insurance from paying out in the event of a cancelation resulting from a similar outbreak of a virus or bacteria. While it looks like the Super Bowl will be played as planned, there is an outside chance that with new variants of COVID circulating, things could go south. For now, the NFL is considering options for alternative venues in the works should the state of California or the city of LA decide to reinstitute lockdowns for safety.
Considering that just a year ago, Dre was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm, the fact that he has a chance to perform at all is miraculous by itself, but I’m sure that he won’t appreciate losing any more money in the wake of his recent contentious divorce.