SAN FRANCISCO — Turning Point USA is optimistic its alternative concert opposite Super Bowl LX’s halftime show with Bad Bunny will be a hit. Unfortunately, I think the non-profit founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk is in for a rude awakening. Look for “The All-American Halftime Show” to be a bust. And another in a long line of pretenders that tried and failed to challenge the NFL.
Headliner Kid Rock says he and the other artists view it as a David and Goliath–like challenge. “Competing with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible … or is it?” he asked in a statement. Hey, good for Kid Rock and TPUSA. It’s a free country. I’m a free speech absolutist. If they see an opening to appeal to disaffected conservative viewers turned off by Bad Bunny’s progressive political views, more power to them.
But here’s the reality. It’s been 34 years since anyone seriously tried to counter-program the NFL’s blockbuster halftime show. In 1992, Fox made TV history by airing a 20-minute live edition of the sketch comedy, In Living Color, which drew 20 million viewers vs. the CBS halftime show. That was then; this is now. Even Animal Planet’s cutesy Puppy Bowl airs hours before the Big Game to avoid a head-to-head matchup.
Here’s why TPUSA’s quixotic attempt to compete with the NFL is destined to be a footnote in sports TV history.
- The dynamics of In Living Color vs. the NFL in 1992 and “The All-American Halftime Show” vs. the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in 2026 are completely different. Back in 1992, the NFL was still putting on lame halftime shows that put viewers to sleep. CBS’s “Winter Magic” halftime show that year featured wholesome Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill and the University of Minnesota marching band. When Fox countered with young, talented comedian Jim Carrey as Fire Marshal Bill, viewers voted with their remotes by flipping over to another channel. It was a humbling defeat for the NFL, which hates to be humbled. But the league learned its lesson. The next year it went all out to land Michael Jackson for what it called a Super Bowl spectacular. The King of Pop set the template for the decades of shows that followed with edgy entertainers such as Beyoncé, Prince, U2, and the Rolling Stones.
- The NFL’s halftime show is a certified ratings monster. Last year’s show with Kendrick Lamar set a new record with 133.5 million average viewers. That topped even Jackson in 1993. Lamar’s halftime show drew a bigger audience than the actual Eagles-Chiefs game, which averaged 127.7 million viewers. Then there’s the distribution factor. The NFL’s halftime show will be shown across the NBC broadcast network and on the Peacock streaming platform, as well as the Spanish-language channel Telemundo. TPUSA’s alternative show, meanwhile, will reach a much smaller audience via the group’s X/Twitter, YouTube, and Rumble social media channels, as well as a handful of cable networks. Good luck with that.
- This isn’t a sequel to the Colin Kaepernick–inspired national anthem protests from a decade ago. Listening to conservative groups, I sense they see this as a new front in the culture wars between an allegedly “woke” NFL and President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Yes, the outrage over NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem contributed to 8% and 10% audience drops during the NFL’s 2016 and 2017 seasons, respectively. But that was fans viscerally reacting to the sight of players protesting during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Despite being a global superstar, Bad Bunny was largely unknown to MAGA voters before the halftime hullabaloo. Even Trump, who famously called on NFL owners to fire “son of a bitch” players for disrespecting the flag, doesn’t seem particularly worked up. Sure, he’s publicly opposed the choice of Bad Bunny and Green Day. But Trump has not retaliated against the league.
- Bad Bunny may have shot his shot already. While accepting three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Sunday night, the Puerto Rican rapper took aim at the Trump Administration’s immigration policies by declaring “ICE Out” at the awards show. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” he said. But commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t seem worried about Bad Bunny crossing the line during his state of the NFL presser Monday. That indicates to me there’s already been sub-rosa discussions between Bad Bunny and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation about how far he can push the envelope at the halftime show.
“This platform is used to unite people. To be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that,” Goodell said. “I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands it. I think he’ll have a great performance.”
If you read between the lines of that statement, Goodell’s not worried. But maybe he should be. Maybe the Latin superstar is stringing the league along before sparking the biggest halftime controversy since Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” in 2004. We’ll find out Sunday night.
