The NFL has a Bad Bunny problem.
The league needs to get its arms around this growing controversy before the country’s most-watched TV show—the Super Bowl—becomes a political football in the culture wars.
Less than two weeks after the Latin superstar was announced as halftime headliner for Super Bowl LX, President Donald Trump sounded off, blasting the choice as “ridiculous” and “crazy.”
On Tuesday, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called it a “terrible decision,” suggesting Bad Bunny should be replaced by 82-year-old Lee Greenwood, the country singer best known for the Ronald Reagan–era patriotic ballad, “God Bless the USA.”
The three-time Grammy-winning Bad Bunny backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for president in 2024. He’s made no secret of his opposition to Trump’s strict immigration policies. The rapper toured outside the continental U.S., in part, because he feared Latino fans would be arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Instead, he performed a 31-show residency in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
The NFL has been courting Latino fans for years, with Mexico a key pillar in its global strategy. But whether the NFL and Bad Bunny like it, ICE agents will be “all over” Levi’s Stadium for the Big Game on Feb. 8, according to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She didn’t mince words, either, about the NFL’s choice of halftime entertainment: “Well, they suck and we’ll win.”
During Tuesday’s Game 3 of MLB’s Blue Jays–Yankees, Bad Bunny raised eyebrows by remaining seated during the traditional 7th inning singing of “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. Shades of the kickoff of Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest in 2016, when he stayed seated during “The Star-Spangled Banner” before an NFL preseason game.
The Super Bowl is the country’s most-watched TV show every year. Fox’s telecast of Super Bowl LIX averaged a record 127.7 million viewers. Since the halftime show attracts casual viewers not interested in football, its numbers are even higher. This year’s show with Kendrick Lamar averaged a record 133.5 million viewers, according to Roc Nation.
With Trump back in the Oval Office, his supporters are spoiling for a fight. Some conservative activists see the NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny as a deliberate provocation of Trump and the MAGA movement. The Shield doesn’t want Trump on its back as he was during much of his first term. That could endanger the league’s proposed $2 billion deal to swap NFL Network, the RedZone trademark, and the league’s fantasy football business for a 10% equity stake in Walt Disney’s ESPN. As well as the Commanders’ proposed $3.8 billion stadium in Washington, D.C.
Others see the choice as a smart marketing move by the NFL, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and Apple Music to attract younger viewers and widen the league’s fan base. After all, Bad Bunny has exploded into the most-streamed male performer in the world, notes Jesus Mesa of Newsweek. As a resident of Puerto Rico, he’s also an American citizen.
Besides, Bad Bunny already performed on the 2020 halftime show, with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. This week, Lopez stood up for Bad Bunny on NBC’s Today show, saying she doesn’t understand the backlash. “He’s one of the top artists in the world right now, probably the top,” she noted.
Still, the NFL finds itself navigating the trickiest political situation since Kaepernick nearly a decade ago. In the wake of those national anthem protests, the league’s viewership dropped 8% in 2016 and 10% in 2017. At the quarter pole of the 2025 season, the league is off to a record-setting TV clip this year. Does it want to risk that momentum? With ICE protests in the news daily, and a defiant Bad Bunny, the league may face a hard choice.
Does it dump Bad Bunny for a performer more acceptable to conservative critics? Or does the league stand by a superstar who sings mostly in Spanish?
The NFL has been slow to read the room. But the current political winds in Washington are blowing from MAGA’s direction. There’s even talk of an alternative halftime show to compete with Bad Bunny. Here are three moves the NFL can try to mitigate the controversy:
Drop him: The NFL can lean on Roc Nation to dump the rapper for a performer with more red-state appeal like Kid Rock or Creed. However, that might endanger the NFL’s seven-year partnership with Jay-Z that basically gives him production control over the halftime show. But the Super Bowl is the NFL marquee event. In the end, the league has to do what’s best from a TV, image, and business standpoint. If a performer is turning the NFL’s high holy day into a political lightning rod, then they’ve got to go. No performer is bigger than the Super Bowl’s, period. On his eponymous SiriusXM radio show, Stephen A. Smith said Bad Bunny would pave the way for Taylor Swift to perform at the 2027 Super Bowl—which will be televised naturally by his own ABC/ESPN.
Keep Bad Bunny, but add MAGA-friendly performers: My FOS colleague Eric Fisher pointed out the league can always add other performers at halftime or to sing the national anthem. The more I think about it, the more that seems like a split-the-baby solution that would mollify critics. There are always multiple performers at the Super Bowl. What about balancing Bad Bunny with a Trump-loving singer for the U.S. national anthem? Would Jay-Z and Roc Nation go along with it?
Stay low: That’s been the league’s approach since the announcement was made Sept. 28. The good thing is Trump and Johnson admit they never heard of Bad Bunny until asked about him by the media. Trump, in fact, seemed more annoyed by the league’s new kickoff rules than the choice of a halftime singer. So how much do they really care? They’re being egged on by conservative pundits looking to score points against a “woke” NFL.
There have been plenty of other edgy, politicized performers, including Lamar this year. Somehow the country survived. News cycles don’t last long. The NFL can gamble that the story will die out and attention will go elsewhere.
But don’t bet on it. As evidenced by his cheeky Saturday Night Live appearance, Bad Bunny is an opinionated talent who’s not backing down. As he quipped on SNL, if his critics don’t understand his native language, “they have four months to learn.” So he’ll probably continue to give his critics ammo. But if and when Bad Bunny gets his moment on Super Bowl Sunday, Lopez thinks viewers will be pleasantly surprised.
“I think he’s about to blow everybody’s mind. It’s an introduction to some people,” said J.Lo.
The NFL declined to comment on Bad Bunny.
