Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show Draws Record 4 Billion Social Media Views Despite TV Dip

There was some apprehension about whether the NFL took it too far by fielding Spanish-singing Bad Bunny as its lead halftime performer.

Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show Draws Record 4 Billion Social Media Views Despite TV Dip

Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga during the Super Bowl LX Halftime show (Image via Variety/X)

In Short
  • Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show garnered a record 4 billion social media views within 24 hours.
  • The NFL faced criticism for choosing a Spanish-speaking performer, but aimed to expand its global audience.
  • Despite backlash from conservative groups, many viewers enjoyed Bad Bunny's performance, leading to high engagement numbers.

Bad Bunny created quite a stir among all factions of people, with one half praising his entertaining performance during the Super Bowl LX halftime show, while others have been angered by his singing in Spanish and his anti-ICE messages.

Even though the Puerto Rican did not convey any such message during the show itself, the outrage started from the time the NFL selected him to lead their biggest event of the year.

Despite threats from the Donald Trump administration and boycott calls from many right-leaning personalities, the league was not deterred and went ahead with its plans.

Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, organized a separate All-American Halftime Show with the likes of Kid Rock leading the performers. MAGA supporters believed it would cause a major dent in the NFL’s viewership numbers. They did manage to garner a smidge over 6 million views on YouTube, but it was nowhere close to what the league managed.

After several unverified rumors, NBC’s PR arm confirmed that Bad Bunny’s performance drew an average of 128.2 million viewers. This might seem as if TPUSA won by stopping the rapper from eclipsing Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX record.

The language barrier and politically-divided environment may have contributed to those lower numbers. But the NFL got what it wanted. NBC also confirmed that the performance drew four billion social media views in the first 24 hours. That is a staggering 137% more.

Bad Bunny’s performance gave the NFL the global audience it desired

Those who have been critical of the NFL’s decision to field Spanish-speaking Bad Bunny as their lead Halftime performer pointed out that the league was moving away from entertaining the country’s majority English-speaking population.

Bad Bunny sang in Spanish
Bad Bunny sang in Spanish (Image via Michael McCarthy/X)

However, Commissioner Roger Goodell has stated in the past that his goal is to push the league towards something similar to how Apple has become across the globe. Even though many laughed at the idea, it seems his efforts have been successful. Goodell has been steadily increasing the NFL’s global games, and acceptance is growing.

Adding their support behind flag football, and the interest in the professional league is also benefiting. Now, when Bad Bunny’s performance manages to strike a chord with the 500 million-plus native Spanish-speaking population worldwide, Goodell may have struck gold.

The league already plays in Mexico City, and will play its first game in Spain next year. Therefore, it may have been an intentional business-oriented decision rather than a political one, as many make it out to be.

Donald Trump’s supporters trying to find ways to undermine Bad Bunny’s performance

Most of the outrage from the right-leaning population has either faced backlash or disinterest, as many openly admitted to enjoying Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl LX halftime performance. But some are not giving up on their criticism.

The lyrics from what we’ve seen from Bad Bunny are very disturbing… These lyrics, but if it is true what was said on national television, we have a lot of questions for the entities the broadcast this, and we’ll be talking with Brendan Carr from the FCC.

Rep. Mark Alford said on Real America’s Voice

It seems the Missouri Congressman and the others on this show want to investigate the lyrics belted out during the show. Since every song was performed in Spanish, it will take some time to dissect what Bad Bunny was trying to convey.

However, there is a chance nothing comes out of it, as the NFL most likely asked the Grammy Award-winner to change the controversial words, since this was for a global audience.

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