Is the Super Bowl a Turning Point?

Bad Bunny isn’t all that bad. After all, the rapper and singer’s concert residency in Puerto Rico added over $200 million to the economy. That said, the announcement that he would headline the halftime show at the next Super Bowl engendered no end of controversy with the kickoff still over three months away.  

Over 50,000 fans have already signed a petition demanding Bad Bunny step aside for country western icon George Strait. While hosting an episode of “Saturday Night Live,” the performer told all his critics to just learn Spanish before the big game.  

Bad Bunny’s detractors, however, are less concerned that he sings in Spanish than upset that his politics are too woke for all-American halftime show. Since on average 127 million people around the world watch the Super Bowl—some just for the commercials and the halftime show, this is kind of a big deal.  

There is an argument that the NFL cares more about the Benjamins than family values—relishing controversy that might bring more eyeballs to the big game, like Jimmy Kimmel getting a bump in viewership after being kicked off the air for being a jerk. That said, Kimmel lost more than half his audience after his brief ratings spike and in the end is likely going to be canceled for his dismal viewership, suggesting that for him this battle in the culture wars ended like the British at Yorktown.  

So, what’s up for the NFL? 

We are about to see the most audacious counterprograming since Trump trolled the Republican primary debates. The conservative group Turning Point USA declared it is producing its own halftime show. There have been rumors of major donations for the production—which may or may not be true. That matters not. Likely, the show will go on.   

This will be one of the most titanic engagements in the culture wars since Greg Gutfeld disarmed Jimmy Fallon—delivering Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” by the way, its highest ratings in two years. What happens if tens of millions tune out the bunny for Turning Point? That may not be as heavy a lift as it might seem. Turning Point has over 900 chapters nationwide. In the wake of founder Charlie Kirk’s murder, the organization reported over 100,000 queries for starting new chapters. If the show just attracts members, friends, and families, that is a sizable audience—and Turning Points’ big show could draw many more. 

In all likelihood, this battle for America’s attention will tell us what we already know. Americans are increasingly over woke, which is starting to smell like leftovers left in the back of the refrigerator too long.  

Recent reports indicate a dramatic decline in young people identifying as transgendered. The No King’s Rally didn’t attract near as many no kings as advertised. Supporters even had to circulate a photo on social media from a much larger 2017 march to trump-up how anti-Trump they are. More women everyday are speaking out against men in women’s sports.

No wonder why the Left is so angry. Woke seems to be peaking before their eyes and crashing at their rainbow-colored toenails. 

Meanwhile, many fans are disappointed to see one of America’s favorite pastimes become a cultural combat zone, yearning for the days when the Right and Left cheered for their favorite team rather than jeering at each other. Remembering when serious Super Bowl controversies involved costume malfunctions and atrocious ads. Those days are long ago, but don’t blame the fans and viewers.  

Professional sports were among the first to take sides in the culture wars—and it looks more and more like they picked the wrong side. The angst of fans may not necessarily be reflected in the ratings. American football is still wildly popular, thanks in part to Taylor Swift drawing new fans to the sport. That, however, doesn’t mean fans are happy having the politics of cultural combat competing with play-by-play coverage. Rather, the more overt and shrill the woke cultural assault is on everyday Americans the more quickly they seem to be turning away.   

Bad Bunny may rock the Super Bowl, but he is more likely to lose the Left more at the ballot box—particularly if he pays more attention to headlining his politics than his music.  

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. 

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