What’s Super about Super Bowl 2026?

Touchdowns Of The Season// Winning were the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. They gave their all to win the title of Super Bowl LX and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.  Puerto Rican musician, Bad Bunny gave an unforgettable halftime show in Spanish. (Photo Courtesy of Mila Ekstrom and Creative Commons)

On February 8, 2025, the Seattle Seahawks faced the New England Patriots to see who would win the 60th Super Bowl. 2015 was the last time the Seahawks and the Patriots faced off in the Superbowl against each other with the Patriots winning 28-24, and the Seahawks this year definitely wanted a rematch to see which team would come out on top. Besides the game, the Super Bowl halftime show with Bad Bunny & Lady Gaga became the most-streamed halftime show. Their message of positivity and love was sung through Bad Bunny’s articulate lyricism in Spanish. 

1. Which team came out on top?

The 60th Super Bowl was the ultimate match of the season for the Seattle Seahawks. With their previous loss to the Patriots over a decade ago, they wanted to redeem themselves. Now, this game, while exciting for the Seahawks, was not as exciting for some viewers at home. This game was slow-paced, as it was mostly a defensive game. Both teams focused more on not letting the other team score a touchdown, which is important, but for football, the exciting factor is to run the ball, and play on the offensive side and score. The Patriots were not in the right headspace as they had numerous times to jump on the ball, but didn’t pounce to secure it, unlike the Seattle Seahawks. The game overall was exciting for the Seahawks fans, but disappointing for other viewers.  

2. Benito’s passionate and unforgettable halftime show

For other viewers, 135 million streamed the Super Bowl to watch the Benito Bowl. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a.k.a. Bad Bunny, performed at the 60th Super Bowl halftime show, as the first performer in history to do their whole set in Spanish. He was joined by Ricky Martin, and then Lady Gaga, who spiced things up with a rendition of “Die With A Smile” to match the vibe Bad Bunny was setting. With everything going on in this politically-complex world, Bad Bunny used his halftime show to promote love and to unify people that live in America. Benito had every flag of every American  country (North, Central, South, & the Caribbeans) and gave each one a shout-out to show how everyone in America can be united despite differences. Bad Bunny had a banner behind his performance, which stated “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”, and had a football that said “Together, We are America.” His performance displayed not only an amazing show full of artistry, but a very powerful message, which set him apart from the rest of the halftime shows. 

While his show promoted peace and love, he did not receive much support leading up to it as he got consistent backlash due to him being Puerto Rican, which is a United States territory. Many performers from previous Super Bowl shows, like, The Rolling Stones, and Rihanna aren’t from the United States and yet they didn’t receive nearly as much backlash as Bad Bunny did. Benito didn’t let the hate stop him, and put on a performance that related to people, gave the Latin community representation, and even included a 5-year-old child, Lincoln Fox, who acted as a young Benito and symbolized that anybody can get anywhere in life, and that race, gender, status, sex, ethnicity shouldn’t be a factor in someone’s success.

Besides his impactful message, Bad Bunny also did something that no performer has ever done before: he had a wedding during his performance. A young couple invited him to their wedding, so, he made their wedding part of the Super Bowl. Some people believed it was fake or part of the set, until later it was confirmed that the couple really got married.

Not only was the marriage a surprise, but popular figures like Jessica Alba, Cardi B, and Pedro Pascal showed up to support and give love to the community. Benito Bowl was full of love, and expression and was a great message to people who really need it during this complex time. 

3. What was up with the commercials?

The commercials over the years are a reason why people also watch the Super Bowl. This year, though the commercials didn’t have the same funny and realistic ads. A major percentage of the ads were either promoting AI tools like Claude AI, or using AI to create the ads. Using AI and seeing that people’s faces were touched up got rid of humanity and the humorous aspects of human expression, and made some ads creepy, like the robotic one promoting Svedka Vodka. The commercials also had serious topics which included anti-semitism, anti-bullying, and health risks. Lastly, while there weren’t too many, there were some funny commercials. The highlights were the Karaoke-style Backstreet Boys song, the Pepsi company using the Coca-Cola Polar bear to continue their ongoing beef, and the Jurassic Park Infinity ad, but other than that, there was no personality. The magic of the commercials was gone, and that whimsy was replaced with businesses that want money, rather than the entertainment they once were. 

The Super Bowl is over, but before you know it, it will be football season again in September. Tune in through ESPN, and other sports news to cheer on your team throughout the season and hope they make it to the Super Bowl next year. This year’s halftime show will be tough to beat, so whoever is next year better bring the heat.