Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show is more than music, Florida Latino leaders say — it’s cultural pride and representation on a global stage.
Bad Bunny to perform at Super Bowl LX halftime show in California
Bad Bunny will perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show in Santa Clara, California, he announced on social media.
- Bad Bunny will be the first solo Spanish-language artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
- Local Latino leaders see the performance as a major moment for cultural visibility and validation.
- The performance is set for Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2026, in Santa Clara, California.
- The announcement holds special significance for Florida’s large Puerto Rican population.
Bad Bunny is taking over the biggest stage in American sports.
The Puerto Rican megastar — born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — has been announced as the Super Bowl LIX halftime headliner, set for Feb. 9, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The Grammy-winning artist will be the first Spanish-language performer to headline the show solo, marking a milestone moment for Latin music, art, and culture on one of the world’s largest platforms.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
For Florida, where more than 1.1 million Puerto Ricans now call the state home — the largest concentration outside the island — the announcement landed with special weight. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, Florida surpassed New York as the state with the largest Puerto Rican population, reshaping cultural and political life across Central and Southwest Florida.
Why did Bad Bunny move his tour to Puerto Rico instead of performing in Florida?
Bad Bunny has played to packed arenas across the Sunshine State — including multiple sold-out shows at Tampa’s Amalie Arena in May 2024. But earlier this year, he shifted his tour residency to Puerto Rico, choosing the island’s venues over mainland arenas to ensure fans wouldn’t face ICE checkpoints or deportation risks. That decision underscored his reputation for making art inseparable from politics and identity.
In Sarasota, Latino-led arts organizations are tapping into those same themes of resilience and visibility.
Carolina Franco, co-founder and board chair of CreArte Latino Cultural Center, said moments like Bad Bunny’s halftime spotlight resonate far beyond the stage. Though Colombian, Franco emphasizes that the heartbeat of Latino culture is shared across borders.
“So much of our music carries African percussion at its core — it’s the rhythm that connects us all,” she said. “Even if language can be a barrier, those rhythms speak to everyone.”
CreArte Latino will stage its Voices of Immigration series Oct. 17 – 19, a bilingual theater production built from testimonies of local immigrants. The staged readings, performed in Spanish with English subtitles, highlight the challenges of deportation fears and the shifting realities of Latino life in Florida.
Franco, co-founder and board chair of CreArte Latino Cultural Center, said moments like this remind her why visibility matters. She believes that the rhythm of Latino culture, the beauty of Spanish artists, and the connection between cultures are what makes her job (and Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance) special.
How does Puerto Rican music connect people across cultures?
“I always say it represents the fun flavor, the fun rhythms of Puerto Rican music. But overall, its Latin music, right? I think for most of Latin America, we have a lot of African influence. So there’s a lot of percussion. I always say, percussion goes right to our hearts. Everyone’s heart is beating, so everyone can connect through music,” Franco said.
“It’s contagious — the rhythm, the energy. But it’s also the fusion of tradition and modern sound that shows who we are as Latinos…That’s the beauty of what he’s going to do — what we try to do every day here: connect people through art, across cultures and communities.”
Puerto Rican representation in Sarasota is also amplified through UnidosNow, a nonprofit dedicated to education and civic engagement. Earlier this year, UnidosNow collaborated with the Ringling Museum for its sold-out Noche Unidos celebration, which featured Puerto Rico’s Bomba Yemayá and drew hundreds to the museum’s courtyard.
UnidosNow executive director Evelyn Almodovar, herself Puerto Rican, described the January event as both cultural and symbolic.
How is Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance a symbol of Latino visibility in the U.S.?
“As UnidosNow works to integrate our area’s rapidly growing Latino population into the full fabric of our community, this concert at the Ringling continues to be a musical metaphor of our work — a fusion of seemingly disparate sounds that is not only harmonious, but creates something new and beautiful, bringing new life and dynamism to Sarasota and Manatee counties,” Almodovar said at the time.
For local Hispanic leaders like Franco and Almodovar, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl stage is less about pop spectacle and more about validation.
“When people come to our center, Spanish speakers feel at home. But what’s beautiful is seeing non-Spanish speakers come out of curiosity, to learn, to connect. That’s what we need more of. That’s what visibility at this scale can do,” Franco said.
The halftime show has often been a flashpoint for debates about culture and politics. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s 2020 performance drew fire from conservative commentators. Bad Bunny’s announcement has already prompted backlash from MAGA voices online. Yet the NFL has doubled down on diversity in recent years through its Inspire Change initiative, which channels millions into education, economic empowerment, and social justice programming.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl slot places Latino artistry at the center of one of America’s most-watched broadcasts — a signal that Latino culture is no longer on the margins of U.S. culture but woven into its mainstream fabric.
For many Latino families in Florida, the halftime show is arriving in a charged moment: state debates over education, immigration, and representation are colliding with national conversations about belonging. Bad Bunny’s presence on football’s biggest stage offers both escape and affirmation.
By February, Bad Bunny won’t just be performing hits like Tití Me Preguntó — he’ll be embodying a history of migration, resilience, and artistry that resonates from San Juan to the Super Bowl 60 stage in Santa Clara and all the way back to Sarasota.
Samantha Gholar covers arts and culture for the USA TODAY Network-Florida and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Her reporting spotlights Sarasota and Manatee’s creative communities — from theater and music to the arts and cultural happenings. Connect with her via email at sgholar@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.