The Super Bowl LX halftime show, headlined by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, was meant to celebrate diversity and draw a massive global audience. In 2025, the announcement created a lively discussion.
Bad Bunny, the artist who had the most streams on Spotify that year with over 19.8 billion plays, was chosen to connect with a younger and more diverse audience. Yet, critics like President Donald Trump labelled it a “terrible choice” that would “sow hatred.”
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Bad Bunny performs during the Half Time show in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Bad Bunny performs during the Half Time show in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
On February 8, 2026, Bad Bunny performed a special 13-minute show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, making history as the first artist to sing entirely in Spanish at the Super Bowl. He dazzled the crowd with popular songs like “Tití Me Preguntó,” “Yo Perreo Sola,” and “Safaera,” and had surprise appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
The stage set included sugar cane fields to represent Puerto Rico’s history, a live wedding scene, and messages promoting unity among Latin American countries. One powerful message on the screen read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Despite the lively performance, not all fans seemed engaged; some were seen yawning or leaving early, suggesting that the unique language and themes might not have connected with everyone in the audience.
The record viewer exodus amid Bad Bunny’s halftime show
Recent Nielsen data showed a significant decline in viewership during the Super Bowl halftime show. The audience peaked at 137.8 million viewers earlier in the event but dropped to an average of 128.2 million during halftime.
This 9.6 million viewer decrease is the largest recorded drop for a Super Bowl halftime show. Despite this decline, the halftime show still ranked fourth all-time, following performances by Kendrick Lamar, Michael Jackson, and Usher.
THE DATA IS IN: The Winner of The Big Game is 🇺🇸
The Super Bowl LX viewer data just dropped…and it confirms what a lot of people saw in real time:
The Super Bowl live audience cratered at halftime…bigly.
Quick context: @nielsen produces modeled national estimates using… pic.twitter.com/Udh6nY5Dvg
— Tyler Farnsworth (@TylerFarnsworth) February 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Telemundo, a Spanish-language network, saw a slight increase in viewership to 4.8 million, but overall, the numbers for U.S. audiences were disappointing.
Nielsen’s data reveals that during a recent performance, the number of viewers dropped by 7.7 million, from 135.9 million before halftime to 128.2 million while the show was on. This decline marks the largest percentage loss of viewers at the peak of the game!
🚨Bad Bunny just got HIT HARD, his Super Bowl halftime show LOST MILLIONS of viewers right when he took the stage!
Nielsen data shows a 7.7M viewer drop (from 135.9M pre-halftime to 128.2M during his set) a record exodus percentage from the game’s peak! pic.twitter.com/o3pNaVej7a
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 12, 2026
President Trump criticized a recent show, calling it “absolutely terrible” and one of the worst he’s ever seen. He said it disrespected America’s greatness and that no one could understand what the host was saying.
In response, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the choice of the host, Bad Bunny, emphasizing that he sees the event as a way to bring people together. On the other hand, a conservative group’s alternative event featuring Kid Rock attracted 6.1 million viewers at its peak.
Even though TV ratings were down, video clips from the event gained over 4 billion views on social media within just one day. Experts believe that lower TV ratings could lead future shows to focus more on English-speaking performers to keep their core fans happy, potentially affecting how much money the NFL makes from ads.
This situation highlighted the difficulties of connecting with different cultures during one of America’s biggest sports events.