NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Bad Bunny attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny made a surprise appearance with headliners Shakira and Jennifer Lopez during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in 2020. Now, the 31-year-old star, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is set to headline the Super Bowl LX halftime performance at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8.
“By placing Bad Bunny center stage at the Super Bowl, the NFL is making a statement about its commitment to grow and deepen its connection with Hispanic and South American fans,” said Ben Sturner, founder of Leverage Agency, a sports marketing and sponsorship firm.
“His record-breaking streaming success and massive social media reach make him the ultimate crossover star to engage audiences across cultures and drive the league’s expansion into key growth markets.”
Sturner added that the Bad Bunny announcement builds on prior momentum around the NFL’s Latino-focused ‘Por La Cultura’ advertising campaign as well as recent league regular season games in key markets Brazil, Mexico and Spain.
In 2005, Mexico hosted the first-ever NFL regular-season game outside of the United States and has since staged several other contests.
Last month, the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers played in São Paulo, Brazil, marking the NFL’s second regular season game ever in South America. A week ago, the league announced a multiyear commitment, which begins in 2026, to hold at least three regular season games in Rio de Janeiro over a five-year span.
What’s more, Latino’s are currently the fastest-growing fanbase in the NFL, with Mexico and Brazil being the two largest and most important international markets for the major U.S. professional sports league.
Isaac Mizrahi, a multicultural marketing expert and fellow Forbes contributor, recently wrote that it’s hard for marketers to ignore the rising Hispanic population in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s the largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority group.
Meanwhile, the NFL tapping Bad Bunny as its headliner for Super Bowl LX is significant for multiple reasons, according to Walter Franco, a principal at sports consultancy Victus Advisors, which provides market research and financial advisory services.
Bad Bunny, who excluded the U.S. from his upcoming world tour due to a fear of ICE raids, is the first solo Latin male artist to headline a halftime performance. His personal brand, which is now mainstream, likely means more international appeal, buzz and interest for the NFL, added Franco, who is bilingual and has advised on several Spanish-language projects throughout his career.
He continued, “I think it’s safe to say there will be significant political and social/cultural discourse (and already has been) given his view on politics in the U.S., Spanish being his native language and the perception that he is a foreigner (although he’s a U.S. born citizen!).
“Ultimately, I think the NFL supports this as they quickly realized through the Kelce/Swift relationship to be able to tap into markets they may have previously thought were not penetrable.”
The NFL is currently in its third-year of the Taylor Swift era through the pop music sensation’s relationship, and now engagement, to Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjburns/2025/10/02/how-bad-bunnys-super-bowl-performance-helps-the-nfl-latin-america-outreach/
