Commissioner Roger Goodell insists the Super Bowl halftime show will be about bringing people together. That line gets recycled every year. It never holds up. The league does not pick performers known for playing it safe. It picks artists who dominate headlines, trend online, and stir emotion.
The NFL commissioner said he expects the music sensation to unite the crowd and not divide when he performs at Levi’s Stadium.
“Bad Bunny, and I think that was demonstrated last night, is one of the great artists in the world,” Goodell said. “That’s one of the reasons we chose him. But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on and that this platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that.
“I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands it and I think he’ll have a great performance.”
Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl has been a lightning rod since he was announced, with conservatives expressing anger over the NFL’s decision to have him perform. – New York Post
Shock Over Substance: The New Halftime Show Formula
The last handful of years of Super Bowl halftime shows have sucked bigly. The only redeeming one was February 13, 2022, when all the OG rappers lit up the stage. And I don’t even like rap, but that show was awesome!
With this Bad Bunny pick for this year’s show, you can forget chanting “USA.”
Expect a halftime show soaked in Spanish, packed with bold visuals, and filled with moments meant to spark conversation. From gender-bending fashion to cultural signaling, Bad Bunny is almost guaranteed to deliver reaction rather than unity.
Bad Bunny plans to wear a DRESS to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show to show support for the ‘queer’ and LGBTQI+ community. pic.twitter.com/8iUzgUUBkG
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) January 24, 2026
So much for the NFL’s promise of a controversy-free Super Bowl.
The Woke NFL Playbook
The modern National Football League has turned into more than a sports league. It is now a massive cultural brand that pushes diversity campaigns, social justice slogans, and progressive messaging at every turn. From the commercials to the end zone paint to the halftime entertainment, the NFL makes its worldview clear.
Goodell has leaned into it fully.
The league no longer just hosts football games. It has become a cultural brand that promotes causes and signals its values, with the halftime show leading the charge.
So when Goodell talks about “unity,” what he really means is unity around the league’s preferred narrative.
Bad Bunny fits perfectly into that vision.
Bad Bunny built his career on spectacle and shock, which seems to be the new definition of talent in today’s entertainment world. The idea that he will suddenly deliver a calm, neutral halftime show is almost laughable.
My Predictions of Bad Bunny’s Performance
The most predictable move will be a performance done almost entirely in Spanish, not as a bilingual mix or crossover moment, but as a full Spanish set meant to send a cultural signal. It will not just be about music. Media outlets will frame it as representation and progress, praise it as historic, and quickly label anyone who feels disconnected as close-minded.
In today’s version of “unity,” it usually means adjusting to whatever message is being pushed.
Then there is the fashion, which will almost certainly be designed to spark reaction. Bad Bunny has built a reputation for gender-fluid looks and boundary-pushing outfits, including skirts, dresses, and dramatic costumes in past performances and photoshoots. The Super Bowl stage practically guarantees something even bigger and more provocative.
Provocation Pays
A dramatic reveal would not be surprising. Neither would a feminine outfit meant to blur lines and dominate social media feeds. It will be praised as bold and labeled artistic, while triggering days of debate across cable news and the internet.
That reaction is exactly what keeps the halftime show trending.
Shock now drives attention. Outrage spreads faster than applause. Quiet performances disappear by the next morning.
Audiences have grown numb to almost everything, which is why celebrities feel pressure to keep pushing further each year. What once shocked barely registers now, turning every major event into a competition to outdo the last one. That usually means more skin, more provocative choreography, and moments carefully designed to push the line of decency.
If something feels “accidental,” it seldom is.
Add a political undertone to the spectacle, and the modern halftime show formula is complete. Whether through background visuals, subtle symbolism, or messaging about inclusion and identity, there will likely be elements that have nothing to do with football.
When Nothing Shocks Anymore
The NFL insists it stays out of politics, but the entertainment it chooses continues to tell a different story.
If anyone doubts where pop culture is headed, they only need to look at recent award shows.
When Chappell Roan showed up at the Grammys in extreme, theatrical fashion that leaned heavily into shock value, it barely caused a ripple. A few years ago, it would have dominated the news cycle. Now it blends right in. People praising her all over social media for the disgusting display doesn’t help matters.
That is the environment Bad Bunny helped create.
Audiences are desensitized, celebrities chase bigger reactions, and every major stage becomes another opportunity to push boundaries just a little further. All of it makes the NFL’s talk about “unity” sound increasingly hollow.
The league understands exactly how this works. Controversy drives attention. Viral moments keep the Super Bowl at the center of culture long after the final whistle.
When Outrage Becomes the Business Model
Bad Bunny was never chosen to calm tensions. He was chosen because he guarantees headlines, buzz, and cultural signaling.
The NFL will smile through it. Commentators will praise the performance as powerful and historic. Social media will explode in every direction.
The Super Bowl halftime show stopped being about simple entertainment a long time ago. It has become a stage for spectacle, symbolism, and shock value, and Bad Bunny is unlikely to break that pattern.
If anything, he will lean into it.
Expect ridiculous statements, fashion designed to spark debate, and moments built for viral outrage. Expect headlines the next morning celebrating how groundbreaking it all was.
If history is any guide, this halftime performance will do what the modern NFL entertainment machine always does.
It will divide, provoke, and trend. Unity was never really the goal.
If you want an alternative to the halftime show, TPUSA will stream a show of their own.
Feature Image: Bad Bunny/OliLondonTV on X/media widely used on social media/ /edited in Canva Pro
