2026 Super Bowl Half Time show - closest to our world I've ever seen in mainstream!

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, Tim K said:

We (DCP contributors) may not be the demographic the NFL was aiming towards, but we could very well be the demographic that is most likely to watch the Super Bowl. 

but knowing Bad Bunny was appearing, i'm sure that drew eyes to the game that would not have watched otherwise. the guy isnt on free TV a lot.

[Galen]

15 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

I have one observation that actually abides by DCP guidelines, though.  This presentation was entirely for broadcast.  The level of visual detail was lost on the live audience, and significant portions of performance were obstructed from view by props (i.e. tall plants).  

I'd agree with you on that point. I didn't see the show live but watched a recording from the perspective of someone in the stands and had a very hard time following along and finding what to be focusing on.

[Galen]

6 hours ago, boxingfred said:

The halftime show was a vibe! Bad Bunny ranks 4th on my All-Time Super Bowl Halftime list 1. Bruno Mars/ Red Hot Chili Peppers 2. Prince 3. Bruno Mars/ Beyonce 4. Bad Bunny. Spanish is my third language. (Mi madre es Boricua/Italiana) I wish the NFL added subtitles. The lyrics are full of love, retrospection, and unity. The show had so much symbolism. 135 million viewers, Wow! The most watched Halftime of all time.

Definitely agree that subtitles would have been helpful. I'm not familiar with any of BB's music and don't know a lick of Spanish, so those would have certainly helped me connect more with the performance as a first-time viewer. If they can do it at every modern opera house for any classical opera being put on nowadays, they could certainly have done it for the Super Bowl.

Plus it would have likely helped soothe at least some of the white fragility that's been on display in our society over this topic.

 

Edited February 11 by Galen
Added

[drumcorpsfever]

Nice discussion thread!

The more I've read about the Bad Bunny Superbowl  halftime show, the more I like it. I wasn't into it watching it live as I had a hard time understanding what was happening - not being able to understand the words didn't help. However, I've learned about his story and context. It makes it better to know that. Seeing the show for the first time was kind of like watching most drum corps shows - like, what the heck is that all about?  

Great, memorable show. For that, a success.

[MikeN]

11 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

but knowing Bad Bunny was appearing, i'm sure that drew eyes to the game that would not have watched otherwise. the guy isnt on free TV a lot.

The halftime technically outdrew the game, 128m - 124m. (Though the broadcast peaked in the second quarter with 137m before everyone decided the Pats weren't 28-3'ing *this* one.)

Mike

[MikeN]

11 hours ago, Galen said:

Plus it would have likely helped soothe at least some of the white fragility that's been on display in our society over this topic.

I think I can rather confidently state it wouldn't have soothed it at all.

Mike

[ironlips]

Re the Bunny Bowl:

I thought the show was cool: perfectly suited for the media (live, big screen, and telecast). The music was seriously grooving, even the ballad segments. If you could sit still, you were probably over-medicated.

The production exuded positivity (unlike so many Corps and Guard shows of recent vintage that emphasize death, destruction and pestilence), and left me feeling energized rather than exhausted.

The overall sound mix for broadcast was spot on too, which is not always the case with this particular event.

The missing cherry on top was closed caption broadcast subtitles, though I did see there was at least some of that in the stadium itself.

Bunny and his buddies were bad.

[Boss Anova]

19 hours ago, mingusmonk said:

This is interesting framing. I don't think one should be using it to prove anything. It was an X (formerly Twitter) post with a poll in it. Specifically, the post was their own reply to their original post that exclusively mentions Kid Rock's TPUSA performance. No references to Bad Bunny at all. So the poll was a simple opt-in and you must be an X user to vote (bot farms included). No reliable demographic tracking other than generalized "X user." Nobody had to watch anything to vote. Just be an X user and see the post. One might make some guesses on who that post was being presented to by the algorithm but we'll never know. But here's a helpful exercise: you can look at the Quote Tweets and see who/how it was being promoted. I'm not sure how you could get much looser ties to scientific polling results than that. About as useful as Rotten Tomatoes oft-botted Popcorn Meter.

 Fair point, I just mentioned it in passing. Polls conducted by corporate media, and  university affiliations have dubious value, and I get that too. One cant get a degree in " polling " in any college that I'm aware of.  I did look to see how US audiences in general liked the performance, and could only find this one.

[ranintothedoor]

On 2/9/2026 at 5:45 PM, perc2100 said:

OP

I had many of the same thoughts! Regardless of the politics, I was extremely impressed with the pageantry and "drum corps-esque" usage of props... kind of like a WGI production.  The usage of the foliage to frame the "parade" of dancers throughout was awesome.  I know it wasn't "for" the live audience but rather for the viewers, but man, that could've been awesome to see live (high cam).  🙂 

[Boss Anova]

22 hours ago, Slingerland said:

It's a production for tv, not for the stadium audience. 135,000,000 > 75,000.

The TMZ poll was hosted on X,  a socmed platform that heavily skews to users who are politically conservative, male (60%+), and white.   Maybe not the most neutral audience to ask about a Puerto Rican performer singing in Spanish.

 That TMZ poll  is up to 400,000, TMZ skews toward mostly younger respondents. These are not your grandma or grandpas. ( I think I know how they might have voted if they participated in the TMZ poll.). They also skew toward english speaking US respondents.  At 400,000 post half time shows, the Turning Point USA halftime show is still preferred at 2-1 margins at 64% to 36%.

 I actually don't find the US results for preference as that surprising. Its true that a " Puerto Rican performer singing in Spanish " is at a distinct disadvantage in any US based poll where the 400,000 or so respondents likely mirror the US English speaking population ( 85% English speaking, 15% Spanish speaking ). So naturally, the US audience when asked would naturally tend to have such overwhelming preference.

 The NFL is not so much interested in the US market for their football, as they have that market pretty much nailed down. They are very interested in expanding American football globally. We see this in the ever increasing NFL teams going and playing their NFL games in Mexico (Mexico City ), Spain (Madrid ), United Kingdom ( London ) Germany ( Berlin _) ,etc recently. Its US expansionism with its multi billion dollars out there globally for the taking by US brand football, via the NFL. So their selection of Bad Bunny in in keeping with this global reach via non English speaking performers. Economically it fits their future expansion interest plans very well, imo.