A halftime show can consist of cheerleading performances, majorette routines, marching bands playing music or other spectacle performances.

American football

A halftime show is a traditional element in an American football and Canadian football game. During the interval between the second and third quarters (normally 20 minutes) some form of entertainment is presented on the field. The entertainment frequently consists of performances by marching bands.

At high school and most college games, the school bands of the two competing teams perform at halftime. Often, the cheerleaders and/or a dance team will perform. Other activities may also take place, and these vary widely. Until sometime in the early 1980s, these shows were typically televised (assuming the game itself was televised, of course): since that time it has become traditional for TV networks to devote the halftime to a roundup of other games' scores.

During a professional football game, a high school or college band may be brought in to perform. For the Super Bowl and Grey Cup games, an elaborate show involving world-renowned music stars, dancers, fireworks and other special effects has become the norm.

Many football histroians believe halftime shows originated with the Oorang Indians of the early National Football league. The team was a marketing ploy by Walter Lingo to sell and promote his airdales. He would lure audiences to his games with the promise of an outrageous halftime show, instead of the promise of a good football game. The team was called the Indians because they were comprised entirely of Native Americans, and Oorang came from Lingo's Oorang Kennel Company. The Indians players participated in helping the Oorang Airedales perform tricks for the crowd before and after the game. However, it was their halftime entertainment that made them such a huge attraction in the early 1920s. There were shooting exhibitions with the dogs retrieving the targets. There were Native American dances and tomahawk and knife-throwing demonstrations. Indians player Nick Lassa, also called "Long-Time-Sleep", even wrestled a bear on occasion. Another show was a demonstration of the United States Indian scouts actions during World War I. The show promoted Lingo's kennels by showing the Airedale Red Cross dogs administering first aid to wound soldier. Many of the scouts and Red Cross dogs taking part in the event were real veterans of the war, while the German troops were impersonated by local American Legion men who wore German uniforms furnished by Lingo. The halftime activities soon became more important than the results of the game for the Indians fanbase. The Indians only won 3 games in their two seasons of existence.

Super Bowl

In the United States, the halftime show for the Super Bowl is a highlight of the event and can cost millions to stage.