Bad Bunny just proved his critics dead wrong with cold hard numbers. The Puerto Rican superstar’s music streams jumped in the United States following his Super Bowl LX halftime show announcement on September 28. His catalog went from 173 million streams in the nine days before the announcement to 218.5 million streams in the eight days after.
Bad Bunny Music Streams Surge Following Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Reveal
Bad Bunny Music Streams Surge Following Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Reveal (Screenshot Via X/@TMZ)
The three-time Grammy winner turned controversy into momentum, and the streaming data tells you everything about who actually controls the cultural conversation.
Bad Bunny Music Streams Surge Following Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Reveal
Industry tracking firm Luminate dropped the numbers that settled the debate. Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, saw his streaming figures skyrocket after the NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation made the September 28 announcement official. The26% increase represents a massive spike in listener interest across all platforms.
Bad Bunny saw a 26% increase in on-demand streams in the US following the NFL’s Sept. 28 announcement that he’ll be Super Bowl halftime performerhttps://t.co/qdbdx5oux7
— Lisa Scherzer (@lisascherzer) October 9, 2025
The timing matters. Conservative critics immediately pushed back against his selection. President Donald Trump said he doesn’t know who Bad Bunny is.
Trump on “Bad Bunny” performing at the Super Bowl halftime show:
“I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it — it’s crazy.”pic.twitter.com/vXoPpRL31B
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 7, 2025
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Johnson joined the pile-on over his Spanish-language music. Turning Point USA announced plans for a rival “all-American” halftime show to compete with his performance.
But the streaming numbers paint a different picture. American listeners flooded his catalog despite the political noise.
Tracks like “Titi Me Pregunto,” “DTMF,” and “Monaco” all saw significant bumps. His global following proved they show up when it counts.
For Bad Bunny’s supporters, the Super Bowl booking represents a landmark moment for Latino culture. The halftime show pulls 100 million viewers every year. February 8, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara gives him the biggest platform in American entertainment.
The streaming surge suggests millions of Americans either discovered his music for the first time or went back to tracks they already loved.
The data demolishes the argument that nobody knows who he is. Those 218.5 million streams came from real listeners making real choices about what music they wanted to hear.
Fans Split Over Whether Streaming Numbers Prove Bad Bunny’s Star Power
NFL fans went crazy once the streaming numbers hit. The reactions split exactly where you’d expect.
One fan wrote, “Because people didn’t even know who he was or what his music was in the USA before he was announced. This dude is big in Latin America.” The comment acknowledges his massive international following while noting American audiences needed the Super Bowl announcement to discover him.
A critic fired back hard. “I will rather watch the news than listen to his garbage,” they added. The harsh take reflects the cultural divide his selection created among certain NFL fans.
A third skeptic questioned the significance of the numbers. “Most people don’t know who this pathetic no talent loser is, so they tuned in to listen out of curiosity to confirm the above,” they claimed. The dismissive tone suggests some critics refuse to accept Bad Bunny’s legitimacy regardless of streaming data.
A fourth fan took a broader view. “Sad that most have lowered the bar on what real talent is. Fortunately I lived my life at a time when real talent was at its peak and as a musician I learned to appreciate what an amazing point in history that was as we watch most of it slide into the ash heap of history,” they noted. The generational critique frames Bad Bunny’s success as evidence of declining standards rather than evolving taste.
The streaming surge proves one thing definitively. Bad Bunny drives listener engagement at elite levels. Whether that translates to Super Bowl viewership success remains to be seen.
But the 26% jump shows his announcement cut through the noise and got Americans checking out his catalog.
The NFL made a bet on global appeal over traditional American preferences. The early numbers suggest that the bet might pay off bigger than anyone expected.