Bad Bunny’s halftime performance during Super Bowl 2026 was widely criticized from the time it was announced, but now it seems more people tuned in to watch his performance over the All-American Halftime Show, headlined by Kid Rock. While the Nielsen ratings are not yet out, preliminary figures seem to indicate that Bad Bunny had the upper hand during the broadcast.
Here’s how many people watched Bad Bunny and Kid Rock
Data from earlier predictions already claimed that Bad Bunny and Kid Rock’s race was not even close (via San Francisco Chronicle), with Bad Bunny’s expected viewership far outdoing that of Kid Rock’s. However, both artists saw millions of viewers during the duration, as per preliminary reports.
Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show, which also featured Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett, aired during the halftime as a direct counter-program to the official halftime show.
The reports claim that the pretaped performance drew as many as 6.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube (via The New York Times). This should be a fraction of the viewership that the official halftime show drew. Adding to the appeal of Bad Bunny performing, Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin also joined as guests in the performance. The official Nielsen ratings will give a more accurate look at the real figures. As of last year, the halftime performance by Kendrick Lamar reached 133.5 million viewers.
Meanwhile, the official YouTube upload of the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show had surpassed 35 million views. On the other hand, Turning Point USA’s stream had accumulated roughly 20 million total views at the time of writing.
So, it seems that the official halftime show is leading in viewership by quite a margin at the moment, despite the considerable conservative backlash over picking Bad Bunny as the headliner in the Super Bowl.
The official figures that would give a more accurate look at the situation will be out soon. Stay tuned.
