What does it mean for Bad Bunny to be on the Super Bowl stage at a pivotal time for Latin music, the NFL’s efforts to globalize a traditional American sport, and an important political moment?
Why did the NFL choose Bad Bunny for the Super Bowl?
The selection of the NFL’s Bad Bunny for the Super Bowl halftime show was probably not politically motivated. USA TODAY’s Pamela Avila explains.
If the NFL’s goal is to go global, who should be on the world’s biggest stage? One of the world’s biggest musicians.
“The world’s greatest artists happen to be proud Puerto Ricans who speak Spanish, perform in Spanish, represent their culture, and make others proud to be Puerto Rican, proud to be Latino, and proud to be themselves,” said Loyola Marymount University professor Vanessa Diaz, who taught a course on 2026 Super Bowl halftime show headliner Bad Bunny.
As the countdown to the big game on February 8 approaches, it’s clear how politicized Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance is becoming.
“The best decision in terms of superstar status was that he happened to be a really politicized musical figure. That’s the tension…Those two things don’t always align, but in this moment they did,” says Diaz, co-author of “P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.”
It makes sense for Bad Bunny to be a Super Bowl headliner ‘if you understand business’ – and the money.
The NFL’s commitment to international growth began long before Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language Album of the Year winner on February 1, and Grammy history-making Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime headliner.
For nearly two decades, the International Series has hosted select regular season games in cities such as England, Mexico, Germany and Brazil. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he wants the league to expand into new countries and eventually allow teams to play games overseas each season.
President Donald Trump and many conservative politicians have questioned or outright opposed the NFL’s decision to select Bad Bunny. President Trump criticized the choice, calling it “absolutely ridiculous.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be “in full force” for the event. Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren argued that Bad Bunny is “not an American artist” even though Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
Turning Point USA, founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, airs the “All American Halftime Show” as a sideshow to Bad Bunny. On February 2, the organization announced that Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett would perform, and publicist Andrew Corbett said in a press release, “The All American Halftime Show is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy the halftime show for no other purpose than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom.”
Kid Rock took a more confrontational approach, saying, “We’re approaching this show like David and Goliath. It’s almost impossible to compete with the pro football machine and global pop superstars…or is it? He’s saying he’s going to have a dance party and wear a dress and sing in Spanish? Cool. We’re going to play great songs for people who love America.”
“You can disagree, but if you understand business, you’ll understand why they made this choice. This is historically important, and it’s something that Latin Americans, Spanish speakers, immigrants and young people need,” Diaz said.
An October survey by Quinnipiac University found that 48% of Americans support the NFL’s headline decision, while 29% disapprove and 24% had no opinion. Nearly three in four Democrats say they support this option, while more than three in five Republicans oppose it. Black and Hispanic adults favored Bad Bunny as a headliner more than white respondents, the survey added.
Bad Bunny will then become a “target for everything that’s going on politically right now,” Diaz added. “This is an incredibly complex and interesting moment that we will be talking about forever.”
Latinos are the fastest growing NFL fan base
NPR said Latinos have become the NFL’s fastest-growing fan base in recent years, and today the league has significantly grown markets in Mexico and Latin America, its two largest international markets being Mexico and Brazil.
The NFL names Karol G for its halftime performance in the first YouTube exclusive from Brazil. The Colombian star has also risen to global stardom, becoming the first Latin artist to headline Coachella in April.
So the NFL’s “quickest way to expand its consumer base as much as possible” is, I don’t know, to have the No. 1 global artist perform at a game right now,” says award-winning KCRW podcast host Sam Sanders.
The NFL’s choice to put Bad Bunny on stage for the halftime show is a business-savvy gamble, if not more than anything else, for a multibillion-dollar industry. “We’re reaching a critical mass with 20% of the population being Latinos with $4.1 trillion in purchasing power. Bad Bunny is so famous that it’s kind of a hole-in-one moment,” said Darlene Lopez, founder and managing director of Evoque Creative. “Ultimately, they’re taking a little bit of a risk, but it’s going to pay off.”
That’s partly because Bad Bunny boasts countless partnerships with top brands including Adidas, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Crocs, Cheetos, WWE and Hennessy.
Bad Bunny’s record-breaking history could boost NFL ratings
Since their debut album in 2018, Bad Bunny has reached career peaks multiple times. He broke records during his historic 31-day stay in Puerto Rico, became the first artist to win the prestigious Grammy Album of the Year award for an all-Spanish album, and was named Spotify’s Global Top Artist for the fourth time in 2025, ahead of Taylor Swift.
But despite calls for his replacement as the headliner, the NFL doubled down and endorsed Bad Bunny as one of the “world’s most popular top-notch entertainers.” Ultimately, it’s about increasing awareness of the NFL, said Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing, which evaluates corporate brand sponsorships, brand partnerships and campaigns.
The NFL “specially pays attention to the halftime show and values viewers who may not be paying attention to the game, because the purpose of the game is to get attention and bring in as many people as possible,” Smallwood said. “We see a lift at halftime, because the average viewer doesn’t turn off a halftime show, whether they know who[the artists]are or not.”
Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show performance in 2025 was the most-watched performance of all time with 133.5 million viewers. The actual football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs also averaged 126 million viewers, capping off one of the NFL’s most successful ratings shows. According to Fox, viewership peaked in the second quarter of the game.
Since the NFL partnered with Jay-Z and Roc Nation to create the Apple Music Halftime Show in 2019, artists like Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, Usher, and Rihanna, to name a few, have taken to the stage.
“Since then, there’s been a lot of coverage that makes it seem like a lot of the halftime show was too political and problematic, or that it was a cultural mess and a minefield for the NFL,” Sanders said. “But the ratings have never gone down. By booking Bad Bunny, they’re proving that their intentions are bigger than domestic politics.”
