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SAN FRANCISCO — Bad Bunny, the headline act for the Super Bowl LX halftime show, is keeping his plans for the spectacle close to the vest—political and otherwise.
The Puerto Rican superstar, fresh off winning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, said during a packed press conference Thursday that he is leaning in to the energy and joy of his music for the upcoming 13-minute performance. But he gave no specific hints about what he has planned, including any potential guest stars.
“I just want people to have fun. There’s going to be a huge party. I want to bring to the stage a lot of my culture, but I really don’t want to give a lot of spoilers,” said Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. “I know I told [people they had] four months to learn Spanish. They don’t even have to learn Spanish. It’s better if they learn to dance.”
Bad Bunny is expected to perform solely in Spanish.
“I’m excited, but at the same time, I feel more excited about the people [beyond] me—my family, my friends, the people who have always believed in me,” he said, wearing a large, gray fur coat and a beanie with bunny ears. “This moment, the culture—that’s what makes these shows special.”
Bad Bunny’s comments arrived as his political outspokenness has been a flash point in the run-up to the high-profile cultural event. He used his Grammy Awards platform last weekend to say, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out,” again challenging tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the selection of Bad Bunny, saying it was “terrible.” The choice likely contributed to Trump electing not to attend the game. The politically conservative Turning Point USA has developed an alternate program, “The All-American Halftime Show,” headlined by Kid Rock, that will try to siphon viewers—despite more than three decades of unsuccessful attempts by other Super Bowl counterprogrammers.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that for the Super Bowl party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, “I think the president would much prefer a Kid Rock performance.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, meanwhile, has stood firmly behind Bad Bunny, first in October, and again on Monday.
“Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated [Sunday], one of the great artists in the world. And that’s one of the reasons we chose him,” he said.
Big Numbers Forthcoming
Despite any political controversy, the Bad Bunny show is likely to be a major, if not historic, draw—and perhaps could also outdraw Super Bowl LX itself. Last year’s Super Bowl set a U.S. television audience record, with the Kendrick Lamar halftime show posting an average of 133.5 million, near the game’s peak audience of 137.7 million in the second quarter.
As NBC is looking for Sunday’s game to be the fourth straight Super Bowl to establish a new viewership milestone, a similar dynamic might happen with Bad Bunny.
“This is actually one of my favorite combinations, sport and music, and something where I feel a lot of passion,” Bad Bunny said.
Adding to the lofty viewership potential is Bad Bunny’s extensive multicultural and cross-genre appeal that attracts a wide range of demographics, including those who don’t ordinarily watch NFL games. As a result, there likely will be an unprecedented audience for the game’s Spanish-language broadcast.
“You may have people watching the Super Bowl in all of Latin America who usually wouldn’t watch it. As a business decision, this is absolutely brilliant,” Amílcar Barreto, a Northeastern University professor of cultures, societies, and global studies, tells Front Office Sports.
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