The NFL might be standing by the selection of Bad Bunny as their Super Bowl Halftime performer… but not everyone involved in the National Football League is on board with the decision.
On February 8, Bad Bunny will headline Super Bowl LX’s halftime show. The global superstar and Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has been in a news a lot since the NFL tapped him for the job. There were a lot of rumors as to who would grace the Super Bowl Halftime stage, with many assuming that Taylor Swift would be chosen since she’s been so intertwined with the NFL in the past couple of years.
Some even thought that this would be the year that country music would return to the big game’s biggest stage, but that didn’t happen either. Instead, the NFL went with Bad Bunny.
To be clear, it’s not like that decision came out of nowhere, and isn’t backed up by the numbers. Bad Bunny is undoubtedly a musical powerhouse when it comes to global reach and popularity. He boasts 77.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and he made history when he became the first ever artist to capture the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with an all-Spanish language project. And if the NFL wants to try and expand its empire into Latin America… it’s a no-brainer.
But given the political climate right now, especially surrounding immigration, you all but guarantee a politically-charged halftime show that will no doubt take aim at President Donald Trump, ICE, and his administration’s effort to stop illegal immigration. Of course, they chose San Francisco natives Green Day, notorious Donald Trump haters, for the pregame show. So while Roger Goodell might be opening to expand the game to Latin America, and who could blame him for that, it’s pretty ignorant to think that Roc Nation and Apple Music (who, along with the NFL, make the selection) aren’t trying to send a message.
Conversations around the decision have happened ever since Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime performer, but through it all, the NFL hasn’t budged and stands by their selection. Though that’s to be expected, it hasn’t been smooth sailing within NFL ownership. According to ESPN, at least one NFL owner has strongly opposed the Bad Bunny choice, mainly because it could create some issues with the league’s pending agreement to sell the NFL Network (among other programming and assets) to ESPN. In return, the NFL would get a 10% stake in the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” That’s a huge deal, and everyone within the NFL is hoping it goes through. Why wouldn’t it, you might be asking? Because the sale is pending government antitrust approval… and the anonymous NFL owner thinks choosing Bad Bunny for the halftime show could lead to President Donald Trump axing the deal.
After all, the POTUS was quoted saying this about the Puerto Rican superstar when the NFL announced him as their choice for the Big Game:
“I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it.”
That led the aforementioned NFL owner to directly tell Goodell that he feared their selection for Super Bowl entertainment could jeopardize the antirust approval. ESPN reports that the anonymous owner had this to say about the National Football League choosing the global superstar instead of going with someone who could have been considered a safer option, given the circumstances:
“I told Roger he should’ve thought through that better.”
Roger Goodell has come out and defended Bad Bunny on numerous occasions, and even stated that you can’t make everyone happy. He might be right in saying that… but this is the first time in my memory that an NFL commissioner has had to somewhat defend the selection of the Super Bowl halftime performer.
It’s certainly an interesting situation for the National Football League… but I think Roger knows that everyone is still going to tune into the “Big Game” on February 8 regardless of who the halftime show consists of. And if you think people are mad now, just wait until Bad Bunny makes some kind of political statement that infuriates both the President, and many of his top supporters… that’s when the real fireworks happen. And when the antitrust approval could really be threatened.
Oh, and Bad Bunny is reportedly expected to wear a dress in support of the LGBTQ community… should be fun….
