The viewership battle between Bad Bunny’s official Super Bowl halftime show and Kid Rock’s conservative counterprogramming was never expected to be tight, and early numbers suggest it wasn’t.
Initial digital data from the 2026 Super Bowl points to a clear win for Bad Bunny, even as millions of viewers sampled both broadcasts during halftime.
Bad Bunny headlined the NFL’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, 8 February, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, during the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
While official Nielsen ratings have yet to be released, early online indicators show his performance drawing a far larger audience than Turning Point USA’s rival “All-American Halftime Show”.
Turning Point USA’s pre-recorded alternative, led by Kid Rock and featuring Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett, aired during the halftime window and wrapped up shortly after the second half began.
According to figures reported by the New York Times, the stream reached as many as 6.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.
By contrast, Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which included guest appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, appears to be tracking among the most-watched in Super Bowl history.
By the afternoon of Monday, 9 February, the NFL’s official YouTube upload of the halftime performance had already surpassed 35 million views.
Turning Point USA’s stream had reached around 20 million total views since posting, with most of that audience arriving after the live broadcast had ended.
While the final television figures are still pending, last year’s Super Bowl halftime show, headlined by Kendrick Lamar, drew 133.5 million viewers, setting a record for the event.
The early digital response suggests Bad Bunny’s show is following a similar trajectory.
Turning Point USA positioned its show as an answer to conservative criticism of the NFL’s choice of performer.
“The All-American Halftime Show is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom,” spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said ahead of the broadcast.
The debate spilled into the political arena during the game.
President Donald Trump, who said he did not attend the Super Bowl because Levi’s Stadium was too far from Washington, D.C., criticised the halftime show on Truth Social while watching from his golf club in West Palm Beach.
“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” Trump wrote, adding that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying.”
The timing of the post underlined a key point of the night, even some of Bad Bunny’s loudest critics were watching the official NFL broadcast, reinforcing the scale of the cultural moment and the challenge of drawing viewers away from it.
Kid Rock later shared his own reaction during an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingrahm Angle.
“Like most people, I didn’t understand any of it,” he said of the Spanish-language performance.
“I saw there’s a lot of dancers and a lot of big to-do stuff. And, you know, he said he wanted to have a dance party; it looked like he had one.”
He added, “Not my cup of tea, but I don’t fault that kid for doing the Super Bowl, getting in front of a global audience. I fault the NFL for putting him in that position and Turning Point for having to come out and have an alternative for people to watch. You know, it’s just — poor kid.”
The Super Bowl itself concluded with the Seattle Seahawks beating the New England Patriots 29–13, but when it came to halftime viewership, the early signs point clearly in one direction.
Despite vocal opposition and a well-publicised alternative, Bad Bunny’s performance dominated attention, proving once again just how difficult the Super Bowl halftime stage is to compete with.
