Seattle Seahawks got their hands on the Vince Lombardi trophy after beating New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, February 8.
What started in 1967 as a championship game between two leagues has now become the most-viewed television event, with audiences increasing yearly to reach staggering records.
The 2025 Super Bowl – the showpiece of the 2025 NFL season – was held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
It was the second time the event was held at this stadium and the third time the Super Bowl had been held in the San Fransisco Bay area.
Figures of historical viewers
According to research from Nielson Media, this year’s viewers were expected to beat last year’s record of 127.7 million people who tuned in to watch Super Bowl 59 between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
- Super Bowl 58: 123.7 million
- Super Bowl 57: 115.1 million
- Super Bowl 56: 112.3 million
- Super Bowl 55: 101.6 million
The figures represent an increase in over 26 million viewers over a five-year period.
Bad Bunny half-time performance
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was the most-streamed artist on Spotify last year.
He headlined the half-time show along with an appearance from Lady Gaga, who wore a baby blue dress with a red floral brooch resembling the Maga flower, also known as Flor de Maga, paying tribute to the Puerto Rican national flower and Ricky Martin.
The 31-year-old performed in his native language of Spanish, choosing to say just one line “God bless America” in English while being followed by dancers holding flags from South, North and Central America in a plea of unity and calling out each individual nation.
A powerful billboard message behind them read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”, while holding a football at the end of the performance that said, “Together, We Are America” in English.
A scene was set throughout his performance showcasing his native country Puerto Rico, as he travelled through a makeshift sugar cane field, a bar, nail bar, a casita to a couple getting married surrounded by Latin dancing, and paying tribute to those who died after 2017 Hurricane Maria by climbing up an electricity pylon infrastructure that was destroyed during the storm.
The show also featured appearances from Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Alix Earle and Karol G dancing outside the ‘Casita’ – a feature that represents his world tour concerts.
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Political history
The 2025 Super Bowl marked the first time Bad Bunny has performed in mainland America after previously choosing to exclude the US from his 2025 tour, fearing his fans could be at risk and targeted by the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials.
Bad Bunny has refused to stay silent on issues expressing his disapproval of US immigration policies and enforcement actions.
At the 68th Grammys, he became the first Latino, Hispanic and Spanish language artist to be nominated for song, record and album of the year.
Whilst receiving his awards he ended his speech by saying: “ICE out. We’re not savage. We’re not animals.
“We are humans and we are Americans”.
Trump absent
President Donald Trump was nowhere to be seen at the 2025 Super Bowl, unlike last year’s event in New Orleans.
Despite his absence, Trump went on to say, “Absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER”, and “Nobody understands a word this guy is saying”, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Bad Bunny has regularly addressed issues through his music videos and public performances regarding colonialism, displacement and Puerto Rican resistance.
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