Keith A. Owens is a regular contributor to the Opinion Page of the Detroit Free Press. He recently published an article about Bad Bunny, who was chosen as the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show performer. He is re-publishing that article here for our Substack readers.
So it’s clear that most of us will require a translator for the Super Bowl Halftime Show next year, thanks to Bad Bunny, a three-time Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican American rapper who raps in Spanish (American citizen since birth because Puerto Rico is an American territory, BTW). Bad Bunny is also the most-streamed artist in the world for the past three years. I’ m just saying.
Bad Bunny was hired for the gig by African American rapper Jay-Z (American citizen since birth because, you know, Brooklyn), who now works for the NFL as their Live Music Entertainment Strategist (lots to unpack there, I know) since 2019, when his Roc Nation partnered with the NFL.
For that heartless transgression of a blatant multicultural infraction perpetrated against America’s Game, my heart really does go out to the white nationalists, MAGA minions, and various assorted racists ― including sympathizers and supporters ― whose tireless efforts to erase all color from America are truly impressive, and who came out in force to object to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl booking. I can’t imagine how tough it must have been to endure Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show last year. Heck, a whole lot of us English-speaking Americans couldn’t understand what the heck he was talking about either, even though we loved the music. But now Jay goes and hires another rapper? From Puerto Rico? And he’s gonna rap in Spanish?
Hats off, guys. Truly. My head explodes in solidarity. I say bring back the days of Johnny Unitas.
Football hasn’t been a mostly white sport for a long time
But hey, at least the actual game itself will be broadcast in English, right? If anybody even watches the Super Bowl for the game anymore, that is. And at least the quarterbacks will be calling their plays in English, which is also a major relief. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the quarterbacks or the coaches will be white; and for sure, no such guarantee can be made about the rest of the players, because if you subtract the dark-skinned guys from the game, then, well, you don’t have a game, do you?
And yet, somehow, the fact that pro football hasn’t been a mostly white sport since those Johnny Unitas days isn’t what’s bothering the anti-Bad Bunny crowd. They’re apparently OK with the fact that this is a battle lost long ago. Besides, who doesn’t love watching those Black guys run up and down the field? And the fact that the vast majority of football teams are still owned by white guys must offer them at least some measure of solace.
But there’s something about the darkening of that sacred Super Bowl Halftime Show that really has them steamed. As if this is somehow a bridge too far. None other than Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem (!!!) has warned that only law-abiding Americans should attend Super Bowl 2026 (yes, really). From The Guardian:
“Speaking to the rightwing podcaster Benny Johnson on Friday, Noem also said the NFL will ‘not be able to rest at night’ over its decision to choose Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican rapper who has criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies, as its half-time performer.
“Asked whether ‘there will be ICE enforcement at the Super Bowl,’ Noem said: ‘There will be, because the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for keeping it safe, so I have the responsibility for making sure everybody goes to the Super Bowl, has the opportunity to enjoy it and to leave, and that’s what America is about.’” She added, “So yeah, we’ll be all over that place.”
So I’m not quite sure that’s really what America is about, but you know, free speech and all that. I also question the wisdom of employing ICE at the Super Bowl, but Noem must have that job for a reason, so ... yeah. Anyway.
Football is big business
But one thing seems to be for certain is that the NFL, in the form of Jay-Z, whom the league has empowered to make these decisions, doesn’t plan to be taking its cues from Homeland Security. Why? Because that level of racism is bad for business, that’s why.
And make no mistake, for anyone who still honestly believes that football is just a game? Catch up. The NFL is all about the business, BIG business. Specifically, the business of making mountains of money for the owners and investors, as any unapologetically capitalist organization should, which is why the NFL has big plans for global expansion. From Newsweek’s Aug. 27 online edition:
“America’s game doesn’t just belong to the United States anymore. In the 105 years since the National Football League was founded, the game has grown beyond the border to reach a global fan base.
“In recent years, fan sentiment has only strengthened, a 2025 QuestBrand by The Harris Poll survey found, pushed by the momentum of its active fan base, which has increased by 10 million since 2021.”
The article goes on to say that, according to the NFL’s own internal numbers, “the league has 183 million fans globally in nine measured markets (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Spain, France, Mexico and the U.K.). Behind the U.S., Mexico is the league’s next-largest fandom with close to 40 million fans, followed closely by Brazil (36 million).”
Not to mention the fact that NFL media reaches more than 195 countries and territories, “with more than 80 media partners, sharing content in over 25 languages.”
The economic power of the non-white world
So you know what that means, right? About the global expansion thing? Because not only is the United States of America on track to become a majority non-white country within the next two decades (California, the most populous state in the union, with a population of nearly 40 million, is already there), but the rest of the world is already predominantly non-white. Has been for quite some time.
From progressive writer Andrew Torre, published in the Rutland Herald:
“However, the 5% of the world population that inhabits North America in no way reflects the racial mix of the world, in which only 16% are white. That’s about 1.19 billion people out of a total world population of 7.4 billion. And it’s predicted that by 2060, only 10% of the world will be white. There are 3.33 billion Asians, who constitute 45% of the world population, and 1.26 billion Indians, who constitute 17% . That’s 4.59 billion Asians and Indians combined, making up 62% of the world population — almost two-thirds.”
So circling back to the NFL’s plans for world domination, or expansion, or whatever they would prefer to call it, it’s clear that those plans will not work with a whites-only mindset. Hiring Jay-Z to oversee the Super Bowl halftime shows, among other things, was hardly a haphazard decision, and I’m guessing it wasn’t because the guys on the top floor love rap.
It’s all about business, and expanding the NFL to the rest of the world is a pretty big business opportunity. Which means that if they think Jay-Z or Big Bunny or Little Bunny or whoever can help get them through that door, then we may be seeing a parade of diversified rappin’ Super Bowl Halftime Shows for the foreseeable future.
This ain’t about Bad Bunny. It’s about the economic power represented by the rest of the world that isn’t white, and it’s about the NFL having enough business sense to acknowledge that power.
It’s about the money.
Free Press contributing columnist Keith A. Owens is a local writer and co-founder of Detroit Stories Quarterly and the We Are Speaking Substack newsletter and podcast. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it online and in print.
So many thoughts. First of all I'd like to lead the crowd in a big, heartfelt "Fuck You" to Kristy Noem, the Puppy Slayer, who is singlehandedly keeping all the low-class, drug-crazed third-world people away from the NFL's big day.
Favorite NFL player ever: Jerry Rice, who is not only smarter and funnier than Noem, but excelled at a position that required him to be hit by the equivalent of a Volkswagen several times in the course of an afternoon.
Favorite halftime show ever: Prince, dressed to kill and wailing away in a steady rain. No love for Rap in general. It might as well ALL be in Spanish.
Feelings about the NFL in general: I am reminded of a comment by my father. About a year before he died. I asked him, basically, "How 'bout those Rams?" And he said, "Oh, I'm about footballed out." I am now a few years older than he was then, and I too am bored with it—the hoorah and the electronics—although I still hope the Niners can teach those other guys some respect.
And again, "Fuck you, Kristy. You have no class at all."
So many thoughts. First of all I'd like to lead the crowd in a big, heartfelt "Fuck You" to Kristy Noem, the Puppy Slayer, who is singlehandedly keeping all the low-class, drug-crazed third-world people away from the NFL's big day.
Favorite NFL player ever: Jerry Rice, who is not only smarter and funnier than Noem, but excelled at a position that required him to be hit by the equivalent of a Volkswagen several times in the course of an afternoon.
Favorite halftime show ever: Prince, dressed to kill and wailing away in a steady rain. No love for Rap in general. It might as well ALL be in Spanish.
Feelings about the NFL in general: I am reminded of a comment by my father. About a year before he died. I asked him, basically, "How 'bout those Rams?" And he said, "Oh, I'm about footballed out." I am now a few years older than he was then, and I too am bored with it—the hoorah and the electronics—although I still hope the Niners can teach those other guys some respect.
And again, "Fuck you, Kristy. You have no class at all."