After making a cameo throughout Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s 2020 halftime present in Miami, Unhealthy Bunny will return to the Tremendous Bowl stage subsequent yr — this time, because the headlining act.
The 2026 Tremendous Bowl LX will happen Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The Puerto Rican hitmaker’s efficiency is predicted to be the primary absolutely Spanish-language efficiency on the stage, and he’s the primary Latino man to headline.
The announcement got here after Unhealthy Bunny, full title Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, mentioned he wouldn’t tour his newest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” to the continental U.S. because of the ongoing risk of ICE arresting his concertgoers. “There was the problem of — like, f— ICE may very well be outdoors [my concert]. And it’s one thing that we had been speaking about and really involved about,” he advised i-D journal.
As a substitute, the Grammy-winning artist’s No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí (I Don’t Wish to Depart Right here) residency — which passed off on the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan — introduced an estimated $733 million to Puerto Rico as 600,000-plus vacationers got here to the island for his live performance.
As an unincorporated territory of the US, Puerto Rico nonetheless has an ICE presence. In June 2025, Benito posted footage on his Instagram tales of an ICE raid in progress in Carolina, showcasing brokers arresting alleged undocumented immigrants.
But since saying his Tremendous Bowl halftime present, the singer hasn’t voiced issues about ICE. His put up on X, which strays from his earlier remarks on avoiding the States as a stance towards ICE, reads: “I’ve been enthusiastic about it nowadays, and after discussing it with my crew, I feel I’ll do only one date in the US.”
As Santa Clara County is a sanctuary jurisdiction, Lina Baroudi, an immigration lawyer in San Jose, believes native regulation enforcement is unlikely to cooperate with ICE. “Federal brokers can function independently. Sanctuary legal guidelines don’t stop them from getting into public areas or executing federal warrants,” she says.
Between January and July within the Bay Space, ICE made 2,640 arrests— a 123% improve in contrast with 2024. “By June 2025, round 60% of ICE day by day arrests in California had been of individuals with out legal expenses or convictions,” Baroudi says. The company has traditionally had an elevated presence in cities internet hosting the Tremendous Bowl. ICE will probably be prohibited from working contained in the stadium, however ICE can function in public areas such because the parking zone, the place followers might collect to listen to the efficiency.
Amid an uptick in violent ICE arrests, mass deportations, individuals dying in ICE custody and the Supreme Court docket’s approval of profiling individuals for talking Spanish, it’s of deep cultural significance that Unhealthy Bunny will carry out on the Tremendous Bowl. Nonetheless, some followers are speculating that his agency stance towards performing within the U.S. as a consequence of ICE was performative, now that he has accepted the Tremendous Bowl gig.
And but, given the Trump administration’s hostility towards immigrants and Spanish audio system within the U.S., it feels particularly poignant that the nation’s greatest sporting occasion of the yr will showcase a efficiency sung totally in Spanish.
“What I’m feeling goes past myself,” Unhealthy Bunny mentioned in a press release. “It’s for individuals who got here earlier than me and ran numerous yards so I might are available in and rating a landing… that is for my individuals, my tradition and our historical past. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
It’s price noting that Unhealthy Bunny’s look on the Tremendous Bowl poses an enormous industrial benefit for the NFL. Second to the US, the most important resale of Tremendous Bowl tickets on StubHub had been bought by followers in Mexico. There are 39 million Latine followers of the league within the U.S., making them probably the most quickly rising fan base. Latine viewership of the Tremendous Bowl rose 51% from 2021 to 2024.
The NFL has made a concerted effort over time to globalize American soccer, with a particular give attention to constructing a fan base in Latin America; it just lately enlisted Colombian pop star Karol G to carry out at a halftime present in Brazil. Provided that the Latine shopping for energy within the U.S. is estimated at $3.6 trillion, tapping Unhealthy Bunny because the headliner is a strategic transfer towards the league’s worldwide growth.
The worldwide celebrity’s efficiency will probably enhance rankings as properly. Unhealthy Bunny broke Amazon Music’s livestream document final week with the most-watched single artist efficiency on the platform. Upon its launch in January, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” topped the Billboard 200 and maintained Unhealthy Bunny’s place as one among Spotify’s most-streamed artists in three of the previous 5 years.
12 months after yr, since 2022, artists have damaged the document for the best viewership throughout a Tremendous Bowl halftime present. Through the 2025 Tremendous Bowl, Kendrick Lamar drew the most important viewers ever, with 133.5 million individuals tuning in for his efficiency, surpassing the precise sport’s viewership.
Whereas the Unhealthy Bunny halftime present has the potential to interrupt viewership data, herald new audiences and educate viewers on the Puerto Rico he loves — it additionally poses a possible safety danger for his Latine followers in attendance, who deserve solidarity and elevated institutional assist.
