Super

Super Bowl LX was mainly a defensive struggle.

Until the fourth quarter, the only points scored were four field goals by Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers.

Many people have expressed the opinion that Seattle’s 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots was pretty much a snoozefest.

Those people, however, probably did not see one of the most exciting parts of the game because NBC did not show it on the TV broadcast.

Early in the fourth quarter, two men attempted to run onto the field, and one of them was successful.

According to the Santa Clara Police Department, Alex Gonzalez, 25, and Sebastian Rivera Jimenez, 24, were arrested at the stadium during the game for allegedly trespassing and field incursion.

Videos posted on social media by fans show that one of the alleged trespassers entered the playing area at around midfield. He ran between a pair of officials, one of whom dived after him and missed, then took off toward the end zone.

He made it near the 10-yard line, with Patriots rookie receiver Kyle Williams in pursuit at one point, before sliding to a stop. Although he’s being referred to by many as a “streaker,” the man was dressed from the waist down.

Numerous messages were painted on the man’s torso, including “@fxalexg,” which is the social media handle of public investor Alex Gonzalez. On Monday, Gonzalez posted a video to TikTok of someone, presumably himself, at the Super Bowl wearing dark glasses and a long, extremely fake-looking beard.

“This was Fxalexg disguise to streak the Super Bowl,” the caption reads.

Gonzalez added in the comments, “They never saw it coming.”

While NBC did not show the incident, announcer Mike Tirico said, in explaining the brief stoppage of play, “We have some rocket scientist running around the field.”

Gonzalez allegedly pulled off a similar stunt two years ago during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, according to multiple media outlets.

A man named Sebastian Rivera Jimenez, who identifies himself as a filmmaker in his Instagram bio, posted a few videos on his Instagram Story that appear tied to one of the incidents. One video appears to show him wearing a fake, blue mustache while enjoying Bad Bunny’s halftime show from a front row in the stands. Other videos appear to show him being held to the ground and then taken away by security before he could make it onto the field.

“Most viral moment,” one of the captions reads. “Ill send you an invoice @nfl.”

THEY kept their romance under wraps for weeks, and now Kim Kardashian is about to meet Lewis Hamilton’s mum.

Just one week after The Sun revealed their top- secret relationship, the motor-racing ace and US reality star Kim went public at Sunday’s Super Bowl.

The pair were seen together at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, alongside Kim’s half-sister Kendall.

And now their relationship is public, they are moving at lightning speed, with Lewis telling Kim during the game that he was ready to ­introduce her to his mum Carmen Larbalestier.

The 41-year-old Ferrari-driving F1 star was seen turning to Kim and saying: “I don’t take just any girl to my mum. I mean you’re going to meet some day. She is very excited to see you.”

Bashful Kim, 45, grinned and replied: “OK,” before turning her attention back to the Seattle ­Seahawks, who beat the New England Patriots 29-13.

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ANKLES DON’T LIE

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Insiders told The Sun the pair’s relationship had been hotting up over the past few days, with Lewis ­spending time with her in LA.

We first reported last week how Kim had flown Lewis back to her home city following a whirlwind three dates in the Cotswolds, London and Paris.

The couple headed to Kim’s £40million Hidden Hills residence, which she shares with children North, 12, Saint, ten, Chicago, eight, and six-year-old Psalm.

A source said: “Kim and Lewis’s relationship is intense but they are both keen to keep moving forwards.

“He wants to spend as much time with her as possible, especially as he’ll be back getting ready for the new F1 season in a couple of weeks.

‘Want to see Kim happy’

“Lewis has been in LA, spending time with Kim and her family.

“They all adore him, especially her mum Kris [Jenner], who has loved having Lewis around.

“They’re all really approving of this relationship. They just want to see Kim happy.”

Of Lewis’s family, they added: “Lewis and his mum are incredibly close. Wanting to introduce Kim to Carmen shows how serious he is.”

Kim and Lewis were seen chatting with Kendall, 30, at the game in a VIP box which also included other celebrities such as Justin and Hailey Bieber, and musicians Tyler The ­Creator and Dave Grohl, as well as Apple boss Tim Cook.

Despite knowing they would be seen, the pair went to some lengths to keep their arrival quiet.

The Sun understands that, having travelled to the stadium in the same car, Kim and Lewis entered it within seconds of one another.

Kim and Lewis’s relationship is intense but they are both keen to keep moving forwards

A source

Over the past few days, Lewis has tried to throw fans off the scent of their fledgling romance.

On Sunday he shared a video on Instagram of him running in London and appeared to try to show it was filmed in real time, captioning it 06.26am.

In fact, he was in the US with Kim.

Lewis’s fans have rounded on his romance and cited the “Kardashian Curse”, which is said to negatively affect men who date the famous ­reality TV sisters.

Following Lewis’s most recent Instagram post, one fan wrote: “Focus on yourself, King. Kim will ruin your season.”

Another added: “Ferrari and ­Kardashian curse is a recipe for disaster.”

Lewis has been in LA, spending time with Kim and her family

A source

A source said: “Kim and Lewis know there is a huge amount of interest in them and he’s aware of the backlash online. His social media accounts have been flooded with comments from his followers about the Kardashian curse and, to be honest, it’s boring him and he’s not interested.

“They had wanted to try to keep things as low-key as possible — and hard-launching at the Super Bowl made sense.

“There, they could be seen together but not be approached.

“Fans who were questioning their relationship before now have it laid out in front of them. Kim and Lewis are very happy and are just navigating this together.”

Although they have never been romantically linked before, Kim and Lewis have been friends for more than a decade.

The Sun understands their friendship started to evolve into romance at the end of last year.

We first revealed the pair were dating on February 2 — with the pair spending a lavish evening together in the Cotswolds on ­January 31.

They stayed at the £1,000-a-night Estelle Manor, where they enjoyed a couple’s massage and dinner in a ­private room.

‘Like military operation’

The following day they travelled to London and holed up in a £7,000-a-night suite in the Rosewood Hotel near Covent Garden.

Insiders said the couple were driven straight into the five-star hotel’s underground car park to avoid being seen by snappers.

Kim was later seen in London at a Selfridges event to promote a collaboration between her brand Skims and Nike, while Lewis stayed at the hotel and waited for her.

From there, on the Monday Kim readied her £100million jet to fly them to Paris where she was ­opening another NikeSkims pop-up at the 10 Rue de Turenne gallery.

Kim absolutely loves spending time in Paris and wanted Lewis to go with her

A source

The couple booked into the five-star Le Bristol hotel — where Kim usually stays in the Paris suite, which costs £21,000 a night.

A source said: “Kim absolutely loves spending time in Paris and wanted Lewis to go with her.

“Her work is so important to her but it’s all things she can slot around spending time with Lewis.

“They are both used to travelling all over the world while working so doing it together means they can spend proper time with each other. They kept things super low-key in Paris and spent most of their time together in their room and ordered food there.”

Those close to Kim and Lewis said they were keen to keep their dates under wraps and had pulled out all the stops to avoid being ­pictured together.

A source added: “Kim and Lewis have been using side entrances at hotels, or are using hotels which have underground car parks. They’ll then use lifts straight to their room.

Lewis is a massive fan of Nineties culture and fashion — and Kim was clearly going all out to impress

A source

“It’s like a military operation moving them from place to place but Kim has her two bodyguards and Lewis has his close protection officer on hand to help things run smoothly.”

Insiders said Kim was keen to impress Lewis, and even channelled his love of the Nineties with her hairstyle at the Super Bowl.

Her long-time hairdresser Chris Appleton shared a photograph of her “Super Bowl bangs” on Instagram ahead of the game.

He previously created the style on her for the 2023 Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and said it was inspired by “Nineties Pammy” — Pamela Anderson.

A second source added: “Lewis is a massive fan of Nineties culture and fashion — and Kim was clearly going all out to impress.”

The Sun understands Lewis will be leaving the US in the coming days as his Ferrari team starts preparations for the F1 season, which gets under way with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 8.

Tomorrow, testing begins across all the F1 giants in Bahrain, with Ferrari yet to confirm which of their drivers will be taking part.

STEFON Diggs was spotted with a stunning model friend on the Super Bowl field as his girlfriend Cardi B was missing from the action after their suspected split.

Instagram model Pree – who is reportedly a longtime close companion of the New England Patriots’ wide receiver – was busy posting from her perch at the Super Bowl before Stefon‘s big loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 

In a video obtained by blogger Tasha K, Pree can be seen on the Levi  Stadium field hours before the game on Sunday. 

Stefon, the father of six kids with six different women, was seen standing just yards away in the brief video. 

Last night, Pree shared pics from her prime seat watching the game.

She also reposted an official Patriots post about Stefon.

BIG DIGG?

Cardi B sparks rumors she’s SPLIT with baby daddy Stefon Diggs as he faces JAIL

In another link to Cardi, Pree also reportedly dated her ex-husband, rapper Offset, in the past.

Meanwhile, Cardi was missing from her man’s side – despite briefly appearing in Bad Bunny’s halftime show dancing in the background.

SPLIT RUMORS

Word that Cardi and Stefon may have split quickly rippled through social media, as fans noticed they had unfollowed each other over the weekend.

Cardi fueled the flames with her strange interview behavior as well.

When asked by an ESPN reporter if she had a message for Stefon ahead of the matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, Cardi simply said, “Good luck,” before turning on her heels and walking away.

Until last night, the WAP rapper had been riding hard for the NFL star on her social media, and cheering along with Pats fans both pre- and post-big games. 

As The U.S. Sun exclusively reported, she even dropped over a million dollars on preparations to give Stefon a big celebration this weekend.

“She’s incredibly excited and fully locked in,” a source familiar with the plans said. “This isn’t just about attending the game — it’s about showing up for her man in the biggest way possible and celebrating with everyone they love.”

Cardi and Stefon welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, in November.

STEFON’S LEGAL TROUBLES

Meanwhile, the New England Patriots wide receiver is currently facing a felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of assault following an alleged incident last December.

Stefon has denied the accusations through his attorney, David Meier.

While the arraignment was originally slated for January, it was pushed back to allow Stefon to participate in the postseason.

Stefon is now scheduled to appear at the Dedham District Court in Massachusetts this Friday, February 13, 2026, at 9:00 am, where he is expected to enter a formal plea.

During this hearing, the judge will determine the conditions of his release, which may include bail, travel restrictions, or a no-contact order.

The allegations stem from a December 16 police report filed by a woman employed as Stefon’s personal chef.

According to Dedham police, the woman was initially “emotional and hesitant” to identify him due to his high public profile.

Court documents allege that Stefon entered her unlocked bedroom and confronted her over a financial dispute regarding unpaid wages.

The situation reportedly escalated, with Stefon allegedly striking her across the face and attempting to choke her with the crook of his elbow when she tried to push him away.

The advertisement featuring multiple survivors urges US Attorney General Pam Bondi to disclose all remaining files related to the late sex offender.

Survivors of the convicted late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have renewed calls for the full release of government records tied to the disgraced financier’s sex-trafficking network, putting up an advertisement during the Super Bowl.

The advertisement, released by multiple survivors working with the group World Without Exploitationduring the National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl on Sunday, demanded that US authorities disclose all remaining files related to Epstein and his associates.

“After years of being kept apart, we’re standing together,” one female survivor said in the advertisement. “Because she deserves the truth,” says another, holding a photograph from her childhood.

The scene cut to a graphic reading “three million files still have not been released”, shown with black redactions. “Tell Attorney [General] Pam Bondi it’s time to tell the truth,” it added.

The advertisement was reshared by a number of US politicians and public figures, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The appeal from survivors comes after the US Department of Justice released three million pages last month related to Epstein, casting a spotlight on some of the world’s most prominent people and their relations with him.

The largest tranche yet of legal documents relating to the prosecution of Epstein for sex offences includes documents, as well as 2,000 videos and 180,000 photographs, and was released a week ago.

They have implicated many famous people, from princes to industry leaders, believed to have been part of Epstein’s vast network, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, billionaire Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and British politician Peter Mandelson.

Despite this latest disclosure, a group of survivors said some of their alleged abusers “remain hidden and protected”.

The documents were published under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in November following pressure to make the files public.

Epstein died from apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.

This is the second time the Seahawks hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in four visits to the NFL’s championship game.

After joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1976, the Seahawks didn’t make it to the big game until Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season. Coached by Mike Holmgren and led by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle went 13-3 during the regular season and defeated Washington and Carolina in the playoffs.

In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks gave up a 75-yard touchdown run to Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker to fall behind 14-3 early in the third quarter. Seattle closed the gap with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens, but Pittsburgh got a touchdown on a trick play — a 43-yard pass from Antwaan Randle El to fellow receiver Hines Ward — midway through the fourth quarter to help seal a 21-10 win.

The Seahawks’ next visit to the big game came following the 2013 season. They went 13-3 and defeated New Orleans and San Francisco in the playoffs before facing the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

It was no contest. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch had a touchdown run. Quarterback Russell Wilson had touchdown passes to Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin. Malcolm Smith had a pick-six. Percy Harvin scored on a kickoff return. And coach Pete Carroll led Seattle to a 43-8 victory and its first Super Bowl championship.

The Seahawks came painfully close to becoming back-to-back champions. They went 12-4 during the 2014 season and defeated Carolina and Green Bay in the playoffs before facing the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.

After a 14-14 halftime tie, the Seahawks took a 10-point lead in the third quarter, only for the Patriots to score two touchdowns in the fourth for a 28-24 advantage just before the two-minute warning. Wilson led the Seahawks 79 yards on the ensuing drive — but they needed 80 yards.

On first and goal from the Patriots’ one-yard line with 26 seconds remaining, Wilson’s pass for Ricardo Lockette was intercepted by Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler to seal the win for New England.

The Seahawks didn’t return to the Super Bowl until this year. Coach Mike Macdonald and quarterback Sam Darnold led Seattle to a 14-3 record and wins over San Francisco and the Rams in the playoffs.

Kicker Jason Myers was responsible for all of the scoring in the first three quarters, connecting on four field goals for a 12-0 Seattle lead. The Seahawks scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to AJ Barner for a 19-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Myers made Super Bowl history with his fifth field goal, and teammate Uchenna Nwosu scored on a 45-yard interception return.

SANTA CLARA — Sam Darnold did not really know what to say.

So as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback stood on stage at Levi’s Stadium after becoming a Super Bowl champion, he made a few comments thanking teammates and fans before ultimately boiling it down to this:

“Just a job well done,” he said.

The words were simple. Concise. And captured the essence of a player who traveled a road filled with disappointments and setbacks but always believed in himself.

On Sunday, Darnold was far from spectacular. But the former San Clemente High and USC star played error-free, tossed a touchdown pass and let running back Kenneth Walker III, kicker Jason Myers and a dominating defense do the rest in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

It was the Seahawks second Super Bowl title, their first since 2014.

That Seahawks team featured the legendary “Legion of Boom” defense.

This year’s defense dubbed itself the “Dark Side.” All-Pros do not abound. Individual personalities lean more toward quietly confident rather than brash.

And on Sunday, it lit up the stadium by harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye into three turnovers and sacking him six times.

Linebacker Derick Hall forced a third-quarter fumble that turned the momentum. Safety Julian Love ended any real chance of a comeback with a fourth-quarter interception. And, after cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye’s arm on a blitz, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for a touchdown.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws an interception as he is hit by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

“They lived up to the ‘Dark Side’ today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said as he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the winner’s stage. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”

Myers made history by kicking a Super Bowl-record five field goals. Walker rushed for 135 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1998.

But the story of the Seahawks’ season revolved around Darnold.

The third pick in the 2018 draft endured tough times with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before he spent a season as the backup for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2024, he led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 victories but the team did not re-sign him.

The Seahawks welcomed him with open arms, and he became the first former USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl.

Is this what the Seahawks envisioned when they signed Darnold to a three-year deal with $55 million in guarantees?

Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage in front of Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III following a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“Yeah, absolutely,” general manager John Schneider said in a celebratory locker room filled with cigar smoke and champagne. “The person, the leader — he’s the ultimate competitor.”

On Sunday, Darnold was not nearly as sharp as he was in a pivotal Week 16 overtime victory over the Rams, and the NFC championship game against the Rams.

But early in the fourth quarter, he connected with tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards. He did not have a pass intercepted. He did not fumble.

“I feel like I could have been a lot better,” he said. “Feel like we could have scored more points, to be quite frank. But again, we got the job done.”

A job well done by Darnold all season, teammates said.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the second half against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

“That’s the heartbeat,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “Truly the heartbeat of our team.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp marveled at Darnold’s “redemption story.”

“I don’t know if there’s a quarterback in NFL history that’s done what he’s done,” Kupp said after catching six passes for 61 yards.

Kupp and Jones can speak with authority about redemption.

Last March, the Rams released Kupp, the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year and most valuable player of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. He signed with his home state Seahawks and instantly became a veteran leader.

Now he’s a two-time Super Bowl champion.

“Sounds pretty good,” Kupp said, grinning. “That’s unbelievable, man.

“The story that’s been written, my story, I don’t know if I could have written a better ending to this year. Some really tough times this year, and to be in this place, be able to go through this year with these guys, it’s one of the most fun years I’ve had.”

Jones started for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI as a rookie but rather than extending him after his third year, the team traded him to Tennessee before last season. The Titans later traded him to the Seahawks, who gave him a three-year extension last spring.

“It’s amazing, man,” Jones said of being a two-time champion. “Those California Super Bowls — I like those.”

After Darnold’s touchdown pass, it appeared the Seahawks were on their way to the first shutout in Super Bowl history. But Maye came back and fired a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins, pulling the Patriots to within 12 points.

Patriots fans perhaps envisioned a repeat of Super Bowl LI in 2017, when Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

But the Seahawks made sure that was not going to happen.

Love picked off a Maye pass, and Myers kicked his final field goal to increase the lead to 22-7. Late in the fourth quarter, Witherspoon hit Maye, and Nwosu grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 45 yards for a 29-7 lead.

The Seahawks were on their way to finishing the season with their 10th consecutive victory.

Maye, runner-up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the NFL most valuable player award, completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

“They had applied some pressure where they got us a few times,” Maye said, “and we’ve got to be better with the football and make better decisions and I’ve got to make better throws when the game goes like that.”

When it was over, Darnold was holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate on stage after a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

“I was like, ‘This thing’s a lot lighter than I thought it was,’” he said. “But it was great just to be able to hold that trophy and finally enjoy it.”

Darnold will enjoy something else: He will now forever be known as Super Bowl-champion Sam Darnold.

“It’s special, man,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it’s a dream come true. It really is.

“Just going to continue to lean in to that, and soak it all in.”

A real couple said “I do” at the Super Bowl halftime show — and Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga were there to bless the union.

For those analyzing the details in Bad Bunny’s 15-minute halftime performance, there was a real wedding that took place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara in front of 75,000 fans.

The couple signed their nuptials as Lady Gaga performed a salsa rendition of her ballad “Die With a Smile” — notably without collaborator Bruno Mars.

According to a statement released by Bad Bunny’s publicist, the couple had first invited Bad Bunny to attend their wedding but were instead invited to be part of the Apple Music halftime show performance.

Amid his busy performance — which included dancing on utility poles, a bodega, a field filled with laborers and the pink casita stage created during his 2025 residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico — the Puerto Rican star still made time to sign off on their marriage certificate before the newlyweds relished their first slice of cake.

It will be hard to top the halftime show from the last Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium. That hip-hop extravaganza was headlined by Dr. Dre and featured performances Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent.

Maybe this time Guns N’ Roses can headline a tribute to the Sunset Strip hard rock scene?

Or if the NFL wants someone more current, how about Highland Park’s Billie Eilish or San Bernardino’s Fuerza Regida, both of whom were among Spotify’s most-streamed artists globally in 2025 (a list topped by this year’s halftime performer Bad Bunny)?

Were you ready for some non-football consumerism? Ready or not, the Super Bowl’s annual blitz of commercials landed before and during the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots defense-first matchup, with some ads served up in advance while others were unveiled for the first time during the game. As in previous years, there were serious clunkers (looking at you Bud Light rolling keg ad), but also a few that transcended their buy-more mission (may you live forever, Melissa McCarthy). Other trends we noticed: celebrities double dipping to appear in more than one Super Bowl commercial (three if you’re Sofía Vergara), lots of borderline-gross humor (exploding heads, singing clumps of shaved body hair, singing toilets and plenty of ads trying to convince America that artificial intelligence tools aren’t a waste of time and energy).

While many of this year’s ads promoted AI and the usual rah-rah-America nods to patriotism, one trend we noticed was that the longer versions for some of the best Super Bowl ads, found online, were even better than the condensed cuts that made it to broadcast. What if next year, we make the Super Bowl three quarters and the commercial breaks 15 minutes long? Any takers?

While we wait for that brilliant idea to make it to the NFL’s offices, here are the big game ads we loved the most and a few that fumbled the ball — big time.

The Seattle Seahawks defence put on a clinic to lead their team to a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60.

How does the saying go? Defence wins championships – and that’s exactly what happened at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

Here are some of the best pictures from a memorable night as the Seahawks got their hands on the Lombardi trophy for the second time in franchise history.

The Seattle Seahawks produced a devastating defensive display to beat the New England Patriots and claim their second Super Bowl victory.

Two of the NFL’s strongest defences battled it out in Sunday’s showpiece and the Seahawks emphatically came out on top to win 29-13 at Levi’s Stadium.

It was a defensive performance for the ages and Briton Aden Durde played a pivotal role, becoming the first overseas coach to win America’s biggest game.

Seattle’s 46-year-old defensive coordinator has helped create the most-feared defence in the NFL, which has become known as ‘the Dark Side’, and they showed why on American football’s biggest stage in Santa Clara, California.

New England’s second-year quarterback Drake Maye narrowly missed out on this season’s Most Valuable Player award but was stifled by the Seahawks, who claimed six sacks, forced three turnovers and scored a defensive touchdown.

After Seattle led 9-0 at half-time, Maye’s first turnover resulted in the game’s opening touchdown for tight end AJ Barner early in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu then returned an interception for a 45-yard touchdown, while Jason Meyers kicked a record five field goals.

“We were the better team, we’re the best team. We loved each other, we believed in each other and now we’re champions,” said Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.

“We went to the dark side tonight, we love our players, they made it happen. They made it come to life and we won the game.”

The Seattle Seahawks lead the New England Patriots 9-0 at halftime of Super Bowl LX on a pair of field goals by kicker Jason Myers.

That’s a pretty low score — but it’s not close to being the lowest halftime score in Super Bowl history. That came in Super Bowl IX following the 1974 season.

In a struggle between two classic NFL defenses — Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain vs. Minnesota’s Purple People Eaters — the only first-half points midway through the second quarter. On second and 7 from his own 10-yard line, Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton lost the ball and had to fall on it in the Vikings’ end zone. He was touched by Steelers defensive end Dwight White, who was credited with the sack.

It was the first safety ever in a Super Bowl, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead that stood at halftime. The Steelers went on to defeat the Vikings 16-6 for their first of four Super Bowl wins in a six-year stretch.

Following the 2018 season, the Patriots led the Rams 3-0 at the intermission of Super Bowl LIII, the second-lowest halftime score in Super Bowl history, on a 42-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski early in the second quarter.

I like Seattle. The Seahawks were the NFL’s most complete team this season and can present problems in all three phases.

While Seattle’s defense doesn’t scare New England — the Patriots prevailed against the solid Chargers and elite Houston and Denver defenses — the Seahawks likely will give Drake Maye’s blockers problems.

As good as he was this season, Maye fumbled six times in the playoffs, losing three. New England’s run defense was among the league’s best early in the season, then fell off, but has snapped back with the return of Milton Williams.

Establishing the run is huge for the Seahawks, who need that for their play-action passing game. Seattle needs some stepped-up production from running back Kenneth Walker III, who was so-so in the championship game.

It hurts the Seahawks that they don’t have running back Zach Charbonnet, who was excellent in short yardage and pass protection.

The Patriots have really good defensive backs who will have their hands full with Jaxson Smith-Njigba and the Super Bowl-seasoned Cooper Kupp.

Sam Darnold has proven time and again that he has turned the corner in his career and is legitimately sharp, reliable and poised under pressure. It feels like this game will be close for awhile, and Seattle will pull away just enough in the second half.

Pick: Seahawks 28, Patriots 23

The Super Bowl, the biggest event in American football, is set for Sunday with the Seattle Seahawks facing the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

The massive sporting event is set to energise fans in both cities and will send thousands this year to the San Francisco Bay Area. Those unable to make the trip are still expected to spend heavily on food, drinks and watch parties across the United States.

Historically, the Super Bowl has been a major economic boon for host cities. For the Bay Area, the event is part of a stretch of three major sporting spectacles lifting the regional economy.

A local boost?

In 2024, the Bay Area Host Committee commissioned a report forecasting the economic impact of the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, the 2026 Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup, all taking place in the region. The report estimated that Sunday’s game alone would generate between $370m and $630m in economic output for the Bay Area.

Last year’s Super Bowl was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. State officials reported the event brought in 115,000 visitors who spent $658m in the city.

For consumers, Bank of America estimates a 77 percent jump in spending near the stadium. A study analysing spending patterns from Super Bowl games between 2017 and 2025 found that, on game day, spending surged in the postal code closest to the stadium, with the biggest surge in food and parking costs.

Hosting the game does come with its own expenses for cities.

In the case of Santa Clara, it is small compared with the forecasted output. Last year, it was projected the city would cost them $6.3m, which includes training personnel for the influx of visitors and other logistical needs. However, other games have cost municipalities much more. When Atlanta hosted the Super Bowl in 2019, it cost the city an estimated $46m.

In 2023, the day after the game, which was played in Glendale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, was the single busiest at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport in its history, with more than 200,000 passengers passing through the airport, which is a hub for American Airlines and where budget carriers Southwest Airlines and Frontier maintain a large presence.

Other cities have used major sporting events to kick off large-scale infrastructure projects. In 2004 – ahead of the Super Bowl in Houston, Texas – METRO, the city’s transit authority, launched its first light rail line just a month before the game. The line, now one of three in the system, runs from downtown Houston to the city’s football stadium.

Prior to its launch, Houston was the only major metropolitan city in the US without a rail system.

But not all infrastructure projects paid off. Las Vegas built Allegiant Stadium in the neighbouring suburb of Paradise when the city acquired the Raiders football team from Oakland during the 2020 season. A year later, in 2021, Las Vegas won the bid to host the 2024 Super Bowl. The stadium cost $1.9bn. Nearly $750m came from hotel taxes, but the rest was shouldered by local taxpayers.

“The economic benefits are relatively short-term, not just in duration, but also in scope. They’re limited to certain industries and specific locations,” Michael Edwards, a professor of sport management at North Carolina State University, told Al Jazeera.

“The NFL [National Football League] often uses the Super Bowl as a carrot to encourage cities to invest taxpayer money in new stadiums. You’re seeing that dynamic play out in places like Chicago and Cleveland, where officials are considering domed stadiums. Part of that push is almost certainly driven by the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl, which the league dangles as an incentive,” Edwards said.

Food spending

For those who can’t make it to the game itself, there is still a surge in Americans heading to bars and restaurants to watch the game or spending money throwing a watch party.

The National Retail Federation, which has been tracking Super Bowl spending for the last decade, expects that Americans will spend a record $20.2bn, or $94.77 per person, on the big game with 79 percent of that on food.

Spending has skyrocketed since 2021 when consumers spent $13.9bn, or $74.55 per person. However, that dropped from $17.2bn in 2020 when the Super Bowl happened about a month before the COVID-19 lockdowns in the US began.

For those hosting a Super Bowl watch party at home, it will cost more than last year to stock up on the quintessential game-day foods. Wells Fargo estimates that hosting 10 people will cost about $140 per person, up from $138 last year.

Chicken wings, a staple for football fans, are a bright spot for wallets; prices are down 2.8 percent compared with this time last year. Potato chip prices are flat, but dips like salsa have jumped 1.7 percent.

Healthier options are getting more expensive as well for those opting for a veggie platter. Cherry tomatoes are up 2 percent, celery has risen 2.6 percent, and both broccoli and cauliflower are up 4 percent. Beer prices are also climbing, up 1.3 percent from a year ago.

Advertising hits records

The Super Bowl is airing on NBC with the network getting a boost in advertising spending for the big game. NBC sold out of advertising spots for the Super Bowl in September for a record $10m on average for a 30-second spot – up from $8m on average last year when the games aired on Fox.

NBC also benefits from a collection of sporting events all taking part in February that drive up advertising revenue, including from the Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony is on Friday and will run until February 22. NBC has exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics in the US.

“With the resurgence of the Olympic movement, our strongest Sports Upfront in history, the early sell-out of Super Bowl LX, and the remarkable return of the NBA, NBCUniversal has solidified itself as a sports powerhouse, and brands have taken notice,” Mark Marshall, chairman of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships, said in a release.

The last time the games were in the same year, back in 2024, the two events were the most-watched events on linear television.

On Wall Street, the looming sporting events set to air on NBC have sent parent company Comcast’s stock surging up more than 4 percent over the past five days.

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Three-time Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show.

It will be Bad Bunny’s second Super Bowl halftime show performance after he made a guest appearance with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira during the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show.

“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown,” Bad Bunny — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — said in a statement, noting that “this is for my people, my culture and our history.”

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which has partnered with the NFL on halftime shows since 2019, will again produce the show.

Most Super Bowl halftime shows include special guest artists, but no one has been officially confirmed by Roc Nation or the NFL.

SACRAMENTO — Only one of the candidates for California governor will appear in a splashy Super Bowl ad on Sunday, though a rival has locked in a valuable spot on Animal Planet’s lighthearted, cuddly “Puppy Bowl” before the big game.

A Silicon Valley-backed independent expenditure committee booked $1.4 million in airtime on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, which will feature the big game along with NBC, and on other broadcast networks on Sunday to introduce Matt Mahan, the mayor of San José who entered the governor’s race in late January.

A 30-second ad depicts Mahan, a moderate Democrat, as a “fixer of problems” in a big city “just miles from the big game” and touts his record reducing homelessness, building housing and reducing crime.

The ad was produced by a committee run independently of Mahan’s campaign and funded mostly by Silicon Valley executives, including $1 million from Michael Seibel of Y Combinator and $500,000 each from Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill and his wife, Ashley.

“This Super Bowl ad kicks off our support for Matt Mahan’s run for governor,” said committee spokesman Matt Rodriguez. “His unmatched record on tackling crime, homelessness and housing in San José while focusing on the basics that Californians care about is very different than the old playbook of toxic politics.”

The committee has so far raised more than $3.2 million, according to Rodriguez, who provided the information about the contributors.

Other financial backers include Neil Mehta and Brian Singerman, two Bay Area venture capitalists, along with Paul Wachter, an investor who has advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and celebrity figures such as LeBron James and Dr. Dre on their business ventures.

As an independent committee, the group is barred from coordinating with Mahan and his campaign. A spokesperson for Mahan declined to comment on the committee or its game day ad.

Mahan, a moderate Democrat, has broken with Gov. Gavin Newsom on crime and other issues and is pitching himself as a pragmatist who would prioritize results over party politics or fighting with the Trump administration as Newsom has. Mahan’s campaign is not yet required to disclose donations but said it has raised more than $7 million since he entered the race, more than any candidate besides Tom Steyer, a progressive billionaire whose campaign is primarily self-funded.

Steyer, an investor turned climate activist, has already spent more than $27 million on his campaign. Most of that money went to producing and airing ads in which Steyer touts his wins supporting various ballot measures and pledges to break up utility monopolies to lower costs.

His latest ad debuts during Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl,” a pregame show that features two teams of adoptable dogs tussling over toys in a model football stadium. In the spot, a Realtor tells a couple that in order to afford a home, they might need to go back in time to 1980, “when the average home in California cost $100,000.”

With a burst of sparks, Steyer appears inside the time-traveling DeLorean from the 1985 film “Back to the Future” and says, “You shouldn’t have to go back in time to afford a home in California.” He then pledges to stop “Wall Street speculators from buying up homes” and pricing out “regular Californians.”

To have a legitimate shot at winning a governor’s race in a state as vast as California, home to some of the nation’s most costly media markets, candidates must raise millions of dollars to air ad campaigns robust enough to introduce themselves to voters or undercut their competitors.

According to campaign finance disclosures, former Rep. Katie Porter raised $6.1 million in 2025, the most of any candidate besides Steyer. But Mahan’s entry into the race has excited the tech and business interests that have until now avoided giving.

“The race is now kicked into gear,” and some candidates who have been fundraising for months — or years — “may find themselves lapped by the Mahan machine,” said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic strategist.

Though tech funders appear to be coalescing around the Silicon Valley mayor, he is “not going to come out of the gate lighting the campaign on fire because no one knows him,” Acosta said. With three months until primary ballots start hitting mailboxes, it’s a challenge for Mahan — though one that could be solved with enough money.

Steyer’s campaign criticized the wave of tech figures flocking to Mahan, saying business titans don’t spend their money without expecting something in return.

“This isn’t charity — it’s an investment so they get richer while everyone else gets priced out of California,” Steyer spokesman Kevin Liao said. “While San José remains the least affordable housing market in the world, Tom Steyer is ready to take on powerful special interests, make billionaires and corporations pay their fair share, and make California affordable for working people.”

With the threat of a proposed billionaire’s tax on California’s November ballot, new restrictions on AI and social media simmering in the Legislature and the impending exit of Gov. Gavin Newsom — who has been a reliable tech ally during his tenure — Silicon Valley leaders have made moves in recent weeks to boost their influence in California politics.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and a handful of other CEOs recently loaded $35 million into a ballot measure committee and spent some of it on two separate efforts to lower housing costs.

Meta and Google have also ramped up spending on lobbying and super PACs in an effort to elect tech-friendly candidates and fight against AI regulation in statehouses both in California and around the country.

SAN FRANCISCO — Neither team began the season among the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots both were regarded as long shots.

But not by their coaches and players.

On Sunday, the Seahawks and Patriots will play in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium.

After the Seahawks defeated the Rams in the NFC championship game, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was asked during a postgame broadcast about being an “afterthought” behind the Rams and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West.

“We did not care,” Macdonald proclaimed, making public an attitude players adopted throughout Macdonald’s two seasons.

The Seahawks reflect their second-year coach, safety Julian Love said, by keeping an intense but “matter-of-fact” approach.

“He tries to keep the main thing, the main thing,” Love said. “He doesn’t like to make … grandeur out of everything.

“Like, he’ll say, ‘Who do we play next, and what time do we play?” And then we’ll all say in a team meeting, constantly, just like every meeting, ‘We don’t care!’ That mindset and his quote … that’s just how he’s been all year, all the past two years and that shows who we are as a team now.”

The Seahawks won their last seven regular-season games and finished 14-3 to capture the top seed in the NFC. After a first-round bye, they routed the 49ers and beat the Rams to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015, when they lost to the Patriots and fell short of repeating as champions.

Quarterback Sam Darnold, cast aside by the Minnesota Vikings after he led them to a 14-win season in 2024, played well throughout the season and spectacularly in the playoffs.

Running back Kenneth Walker III leads the rushing attack, and George Holani has stepped into a complementary role that Zach Charbonnet filled before suffering a knee injury in the divisional round against the 49ers.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba runs with the ball during a win over the Rams in the NFC championship on Jan. 25.

(Ben VanHouten / Associated Press)

Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was voted the NFL offensive player of the year after catching 119 passes, 10 for touchdowns. Darnold also relies on receiver Cooper Kupp, the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year and Super Bowl LVI most valuable player when he played for the Rams, and the electric Rashid Shaheed, along with tight end A.J. Barner.

Linebacker Ernest Jones, linemen Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Nick Emmanwori are among the standouts for the Seahawks “Dark Side” defense that gave up a league-best 17.2 points per game in the regular season.

Jason Myers is the kicker, All-Pro Michael Dickson the punter and Shaheed the dynamic kick returner.

Like the Seahawks, the Patriots and their fans were similarly inspired by a speech receiver Stefon Diggs made before a preseason game, when he proclaimed “We all we got. We all we need.”

After finishing 4-13 last season, Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired first-year coach Jerod Mayo and hired Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion who coached the Tennessee Titans for six seasons.

“We were intentional about making sure that when the players returned there was a program in place that they could look at, that they could believe in, that they wanted to be a part of and that they wanted to protect,” Vrabel said. “That’s what we set out to do.”

Vrabel, the NFL coach of the year, led the Patriots to a 14-3 record and their first AFC East title since 2019. The Patriots then defeated the Chargers and the Houston Texans before beating the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2018 season, when they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

Quarterback Drake Maye is a dual threat who became an MVP finalist while leading an offense that averaged 28.8 points a game.

Diggs is Maye’s top target — he eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving for the seventh time — and tight end Hunter Henry plays a prominent role. Receivers Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins and Demario Douglas and tight end Austin Hooper also have made plays.

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs runs with the ball against the New York Jets on Dec. 28.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson combined for 13 rushing touchdowns during the regular season.

Defensive lineman Milton Williams, linebackers K’Lavon Chaisson and Robert Spillane, cornerback Christian Gonzalez and safety Jaylinn Hawkins are among the key players for a defense that gave up 18.8 points a game during the regular season — the league’s fourth-best mark. Sack leader Harold Landry III is questionable because of a knee issue.

Andy Borregales is the kicker, Bryce Baringer the punter, and Marcus Jones is a second-team All-Pro punt returner.

A few months back, a discussion broke out in the De Los chat about whether or not Bad Bunny would win album of the year at the 68th Grammy Awards for his LP “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”

I was firmly in the “yes” camp from the day the nominations were announced and I was right!

But if I’m being honest, I had my doubts that it would happen until the second that presenter Harry Styles called out the Puerto Rican singer’s name Sunday night.

Those in the “no” camp — who were still rooting for him to win — had history in their favor. It’s so rare for any major awards show, but especially the Grammys, to recognize artists at the peak of their powers. It’s almost as if these voting bodies feel that some (usually Black) artists must go through a weird humiliation ritual before being deemed worthy.

In 2015, Beyoncé’s self-titled LP lost album of the year in favor of Beck’s “Morning Phase.” She was overlooked again when Adele won album of the year for “25” over her seminal album “Lemonade” at the 59th Grammy Awards. Her club classic “Renaissance” also missed out on the top prize in 2023, with Styles’ “Harry’s House” taking home the award.

Rapper Macklemore won the rap album Grammy over Kendrick Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d. City” at the 56th iteration of the award ceremony. At the 2016 Grammys, Lamar’s deeply layered LP “To Pimp a Butterfly” lost album of the year to Taylor Swift’s “1989.” Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” won album of the year in 2013 over Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange.”

The anti-Blackness in the Recording Academy — the voting body that chooses Grammy winners — cannot be understated.

But in a rare move the voters, which included the Latin Grammy Awards’ voting body for the first time this year, chose the album that actually reflected the cultural zeitgeist.

Really it was less so that I believed Bad Bunny would win as much as I felt that he needed to win.

The past year has been exceedingly trying for the Latinx community as Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have been conducted throughout the country. It has oftentimes felt as though being Latinx — looking a certain way, speaking Spanish, having certain names — is a crime. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen videos of or heard heartbreaking stories of Latinx people being separated from their families, harassed or even killed due to activities of federal agents.

So even if it was just a moment of recognition for Bad Bunny, I had a lot riding on one win for Latinx people. A win for an album that is unapologetically in Spanish, explored ideas of resistance toward colonization and dared to be joyful, would mean something to me.

When he won, I had the same reaction as him. I couldn’t believe it and I cried — genuine tears in my Latina eyes.

It felt like an acknowledgment that Latinx people exist and matter. I was also moved when he explicitly shouted out immigrant and Latinx communities. There was just something that felt radical, too, in him giving the majority of his acceptance speech in Spanish.

De Los writer Andrea Flores also had faith in Bad Bunny’s Grammys viability from the very beginning.

“I knew Bad Bunny was going to win big at the Grammy Awards the moment he released this album,” she told me. “Bad Bunny made music for Puerto Rico, and the world listened.”

“I cried when I saw that Bad Bunny won album of the year. For me, it felt like sweet vindication for Latinx artists — reggaetoneros, more specifically — who have long been ignored, and at times vilified, by mainstream media for so many years. But what made me even more emotional was seeing posts on X showing Bad Bunny in 2016 as a bag boy at a local Puerto Rican supermarket. He looks familiar in that picture, like a cousin, brother or childhood friend. That was only 10 years ago. It’s proof to me that so much can change if you believe in your art and in yourself.”

It’s weird that a Latinx artist from an American colony is the most powerful cultural figure in the country at the same time that Latinx people face the most tenuous situation in the U.S. that I’ve seen in my life.

When Bad Bunny takes the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, I wish he’d get up there and call out ICE again on an even-bigger stage or do some kind of spectacular act of protest against the vile political class that has always and continues to push through discriminatory policies against non-white communities.

It’d be awesome if that happens, but even if it doesn’t, there will still be something profoundly radical about him simply being there and performing exclusively in Spanish.

(Jackie Rivera / For The Times; Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times)

The latest on Trump’s immigration enforcement

(Joel Angel Juarez / Getty Images)

After killing two U.S. citizens, forcibly extracting immigrants and using force against protestors, some 700 federal agents are being pulled out of Minnesota. About 2,000 officers will remain in the state, White House border czar Tom Homan said early this week.

On Tuesday, immigration officers in Minneapolis pulled their guns on and arrested protestors who were trailing their vehicles, the AP reported.

Meanwhile, my colleague Gavin J. Quinton reported that the Senate isn’t “anywhere close” to reaching an agreement on ICE funding, as Democrats demand “nonnegotiable” ICE reforms.

In some good news, Liam Conejo Ramos — the 5-year-old from Minnesota who was famously photographed wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack while detained by ICE agents — and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were released from a detention facility in Dilley, Texas and are back home in Minnesota.

The duo was released thanks to a ruling from the U.S. District Judge Fred Biery.

“[T]he case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Stories we read this week that we think you should read

Unless otherwise noted, stories below were published by the Los Angeles Times.

Politics and Immigration

Arts, culture and entertainment

Latin America

Feb. 6 (UPI) — The Mexican state of Michoacán increased its avocado shipments to the United States by nearly 20%, projecting about 130,000 tons of fruit for consumption during Super Bowl LX this Sunday, the export sector reported.

Exports were concentrated during December 2025 and January 2026 to meet demand linked to the event, considered one of the largest avocado consumption spikes in the United States.

Salvador Bustos, commercial director of packing and exporting company Boka Foods, said Michoacán avocados once again broke records.

“This year there was an increase of up to 130,000 tons, 20% more than last year. In terms of quality and sizes, Michoacán avocados are always a standout at the Super Bowl,” he said.

Bustos noted that despite strict U.S. sanitary regulations for avocado imports, all requirements have been met to ensure the timely arrival of the fruit in the North American country.

“The increase in tonnage compared with last year implies that there are favorable conditions to continue exporting in the same way and increasingly better,” he added.

At a press conference on Feb. 2, Michoacán Secretary of Economic Development Claudio Méndez Fernández described the Super Bowl as one of the most important marketing windows for the state’s fruit.

Michoacán authorities said that nearly 90% of the avocados consumed in the United States are imported from Mexico, and the product’s commercial value grew by 23% between 2023 and 2024.

Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said the United States is one of the most important markets for Michoacán avocados and that the adoption of environmental certifications such as ProForest Avocado is strengthening the position of the exported product.

Bad Bunny is constantly making history. Last Sunday he broke a new record by winning album of the year at the Grammys for his 2025 album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which was the first fully Spanish-language album to claim the title; and come Feb. 8, a.k.a. Super Bowl Sunday, he’ll be the headlining act at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Yet he is also teaching history. Bad Bunny’s latest record is not only a celebration of Puerto Rico and its people, but it offers a window into some of the challenges the embattled territory is currently facing — including massive migration, displacement and an infrastructure on the brink of collapse. In a moment when education is under attack, both in the United States and Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny is using pop culture’s biggest stage to offer the world a history lesson. And in this political context, that matters greatly.

In December 2024, I was contacted by Bad Bunny’s team to produce 17 pages outlining Puerto Rican history, to pair with each song’s YouTube visualizer for “DTMF.” Altogether, they have been viewed more than 775 million times.

I later produced 40 slides jam-packed with historical and cultural facts about Puerto Rico, which were screened at Bad Bunny’s 31-show residency in San Juan. These ranged from facts about the history of women’s suffrage to the founding of Puerto Rico’s oldest punk band, La Experiencia de Toñito Cabanillas.

When Bad Bunny was announced as the NFL’s choice to headline the halftime show, I was hardly surprised by the backlash from conservatives — including multiple Fox News hosts, podcasters and even President Trump, who said, “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it … [It’s] crazy.”

As communities of color celebrated on social media, critics raised two questions: Why would a Spanish-speaking artist — even if he is the most-streamed artist on Earth — be chosen for that stage? And why wouldn’t they choose a more patriotic, Anglo-American artist?

While undoubtedly xenophobic in nature, these questions highlight their acute ignorance about the place that birthed Bad Bunny, and its ongoing entanglement with the United States.

Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spanish from 1493 until 1898, the year that the United States occupied the country as part of the Spanish-American War. Later, in 1917, Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens through the Jones Law. Eventually, we drafted a constitution and became a Commonwealth of the United States in 1952. But there is never one single historical narrative.

What these facts occlude, however, is that Puerto Ricans are second-class citizens who cannot vote for the president — and those in the archipelago are not fully protected by the U.S. Bill of Rights. According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s early-20th century Insular Cases, we belong to the United States, but we are not part of it.

Put simply: We are a colony of the United States in the 21st century.

When drafting the historical narratives for “DTMF,” Bad Bunny understood that Puerto Rican history is often unknown, even to our own people. He was interested in making history available for those who don’t have access to higher education. He wanted me to write these narratives in a candid manner to be read by people in the barriadas y caserios (working-class neighborhoods and the projects). These were the places where I came of age in Puerto Rico.

With the success of “DTMF,” Puerto Rican history was amplified to the world. I’ve had countless conversations with journalists from around the globe, who marveled at how little they knew about Puerto Rico’s history or its relationship to the United States. This is precisely what I think drives those debates about language and who gets the right to claim Americanness — a lack of information.

And even though Bad Bunny is a U.S. citizen, conservatives have organized an alternative “All-American Halftime Show,” which reveals how “Americanness” is policed through language and race. This is the product of willful ignorance.

Puerto Rico’s history is also that of Latin American, Caribbean, United States and Latinx communities. I believe Bad Bunny’s performance will invite people to understand the beauty and complexity of our people’s history, even if it makes outsiders uncomfortable. That he will also be doing so entirely in Spanish in a moment when Latinx people in the United States are being arrested or interrogated by federal agents for speaking in Spanish — or simply for having an accent? That matters.

Of course, artists alone will not save us from the perils of racism and xenophobia — I learned that from my time in the punk community. We cannot just wait on anyone, especially not celebrities, to change institutions without some people power to back them up.

Yet given his enormous reach — just this week his latest album hit No. 1 on Apple Music in China — Bad Bunny has the power to move the cultural needle. And if there’s one thing to take from the Grammys ceremony last Sunday, it’s that he’s not alone — other artists have taken a stand on anti-immigrant violence. They are living up to the moment. That matters too.

So while conservatives organize their bland counter to the Super Bowl halftime show — with none other than Kid Rock as headliner — Bad Bunny will be offering the world a much more valuable history lesson, full of sazón, batería y reggaetón.

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo is the author of “Puerto Rico: A National History” and associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

MILAN — Mike Tirico was baptized on the day of Super Bowl I.

Sunday, the NBC play-by-play announcer will be baptized by fire.

Not only will Tirico call the Super Bowl for the first time, but he will stay on the Levi’s Stadium field after the game to remotely host Sunday night’s coverage of the Winter Olympics.

From football’s mountaintop to the majestic peaks of Northern Italy, it’s an unprecedented double play in the broadcasting business.

“We’ll keep the Super Bowl celebration threaded into the Olympic show — confetti, family moments, that sort of thing,” said Tirico, 59, who worked both events four years ago but didn’t call that Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium, instead hosting the pregame show.

“What I learned from Super Bowl LVI is that it’s possible to do this without cheating either job.”

Maybe so, but it requires the extraordinary organization and preparation for which Tirico is famous within the network. Each year, he distributes to colleagues a color-coded calendar — a different color for every sport he’s covering that day — and the patchwork on every page looks like the Partridge family bus.

“Mike is the world’s best multitasker,” said Rob Hyland, coordinating producer of “Sunday Night Football.”

“This is in his DNA. It’s how he’s wired.”

Even for Tirico, however, the task is ambitious. The day after calling the Rams’ divisional playoff game at Chicago, he boarded a flight for Italy to check out the NBC studios in Milan. It was all part of getting comfortable with the setup.

On Super Bowl Sunday, hours before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots take the field, Tirico will be up at 4:30 on the West Coast to watch Lindsey Vonn in the women’s downhill. He then will try to get back to sleep to prepare for his long day of football, knowing he will be running on adrenaline deep into the night. At halftime, he’ll carve out a few minutes to get up to speed on what’s happening in Italy.

On Monday, he and others from NBC will fly to Milan, with Tirico beginning his in-studio Olympics coverage Tuesday.

Tirico is just the 13th play-by-play announcer to call a national Super Bowl broadcast. He said Sunday will be like being back at Syracuse and taking three final exams in one day. He figures he will graze his way through the day but doesn’t plan to sit down for a meal, per se.

“They always say you should be slightly hungry when you take a test,” he said. “I subscribe to that theory on game day.”

Whereas preparation for the Super Bowl begins the moment the participating teams are determined, Tirico said his work on the Olympics has been years in the making.

“You want to be prepared but not over-prepared,” he said, referring to both events. “You want to know the important things you can get to during the game.”

The key is to use the information judiciously without overloading the audience with facts and statistics.

“With all that detail and information as granular as he can get, he never loses sight of what’s important for a mass audience,” Hyland said. “Mike is a unicorn. He’s one of one.”

As for Hyland, he’s one and done. After the Super Bowl, he will head home to Connecticut and become part of said audience.

“I’ll be playing the role of dad back on my couch in Southport with our six-month-old baby boy,” he said. “I’ll be watching the Olympics as a fan.”

In a sense, Tirico is a fan, too. There’s still a kernel of disbelief that this is his job.

“This is the thing that happens after you stop dreaming,” he said. “Because your dreams never let you get this far.”