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A new national sports poll released on Monday shows that fewer than half of Americans want to see Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny perform at the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show.
The survey, conducted in collaboration with the Quinnipiac University School of Communications, found that 48 percent of Americans approve of the NFL’s decision to have the rapper—born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—lead its Super Bowl LX halftime festivities on Feb. 8, 2026.
Nearly 30 percent said they disapproved of the NFL’s selection, while 24 percent did not share an opinion on the matter.
“Democrats (74 - 10 percent) and independents (52 - 22 percent) approve of the NFL’s decision to have Bad Bunny perform the Super Bowl halftime show, while Republicans (63 - 16 percent) disapprove, reflecting recent criticism of the pick by the Trump administration,” the survey reads.
In September, the NFL named Bad Bunny—who primarily sings in Spanish—as the halftime headliner for the game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, drawing backlash from some football fans online.
“Bad move NFL ... millions of people will not be watching this year,” one Instagram user wrote. “Live in America, speak English,” added another. “Boycott the Superbowl,” a third comment reads.
More than 94,000 people have also signed a Change.org petition urging the NFL to replace Bad Bunny with country singer George Strait.
In a Sept. 28 statement announcing the pick, Jon Barker, senior vice president of Global Event Production for the NFL, said Bad Bunny represents “the global energy and cultural vibrancy that define today’s music scene,” adding that the 31-year-old Grammy-winning artist’s “unique ability to bridge genres, languages, and audiences makes him an exciting and natural choice to take the Super Bowl halftime stage.”
As with previous years, the NFL selected the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer in collaboration with Apple Music and Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by rapper Jay-Z in 2008.
Bad Bunny performs during a stop of the Most Wanted Tour at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2024. David Becker/Getty Images
Speaking to Newsmax earlier this month, President Donald Trump said he had “never heard” of Bad Bunny.
“I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The singer has previously criticized some of the president’s policies, saying that his upcoming world tour, which kicks off in the Dominican Republic in November, would not include any stops in the United States out of concern for potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations at his concerts.
During an Oct. 3 appearance on “The Benny Show,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted that ICE would be stationed at Levi’s Stadium on game day.
“I have the responsibility for making sure everybody [who] goes to the Super Bowl has the opportunity to enjoy it ... and that’s what America is about,” Noem said. “So yeah, we’ll be all over that place, and we’re going to enforce the law ... so I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they are law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would not be dropping Bad Bunny from its halftime show.
“It’s carefully thought through,” Goodell said during an Oct. 22 news conference.
“I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.”
