Featured image: (Pacer Graphic / Sophia Phillips)

For the first time in NFL Super Bowl history, two halftime shows were run simultaneously, the NFL halftime show and the All-American Halftime Show.

For those who are unaware, the NFL halftime show is a live performance concert-like event that happens during the midway break of the Super Bowl. The halftime show generally features popular and well-known musical artists and draws in as much, if not more, attention as the game itself.

For Superbowl XV, the main halftime performance was Bad Bunny, alongside surprise guest performances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. 

The announcement that Bad Bunny would be performing was released in October of 2025, and with the announcement came much controversy and backlash from the public. Many critics of the announcement argued that his Spanish music, cultural themes and previous political statements made him a bad choice to head the halftime show. President Donald Trump even publicly called out the halftime show in a Truth Social post, calling it “a slap in the face to our country.”

This backlash inspired the launch of the All-American Halftime Show by Turning Point USA (TPUSA). According to Story News, this halftime show ran simultaneously with the NFL’s and, was marketed as “a family-friendly, values-driven patriotic event.” The All-American Halftime Show featured performances by Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.

This show was supposed to be a cultural counter-program to the Bad Bunny performance to emphasize the theme of American tradition, but it wasn’t necessary at all.

One big thing I heard, that caused many not want to watch the halftime show, was that Bad Bunny was not American, but that is not true. He is a native of Puerto Rico, a US territory, making him a US citizen. 

Also, the All-American Halftime show did not perform even close to the rating of the NFL’s halftime show. According to The New York Times, the TPUSA livestream peaked at 6.1 million concurrent viewers, while the NFL is projected to exceed 135 million viewers. 

Those numbers are even reflected in the YouTube numbers. As of now, the NFL video has over 53 million views while the TPUSA video only reached about 20 million views. 

Many people who do not like football turn on the channel to watch the halftime show and leave when it is over. If you truly do not want to watch the halftime show, just turn off the channel when it is on and come back to it when the halftime show is over.