‘Benito Bowl’: Many Latino Texans view Bad Bunny Super Bowl performance as chance to celebrate

This weekend, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots face off in the Super Bowl – one of the largest sporting events in the world.

But for many tuning in on Sunday, it’ll just be the game that’s taking place during the Bad Bunny concert.

The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican artist garnered an outpouring of both enthusiasm and detraction when it was announced he would be the performer.

But for Latinos, in particular, many are celebrating seeing a primarily Spanish-language performer take the stage.

Madalyn Mendoza looked at how some Texans are getting ready for the show for Axios. She joined the Standard to share more. Listen to the interview in the player above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Madalyn Mendoza: Yeah, there are so many businesses, whether it be food trucks or restaurants, bars, and even t-shirt vendors that are really enjoying this moment and making the most of it.

I’ve heard from a variety of people saying that this is their chance to celebrate and take up space. And that’s pretty much the general theme.

Texas Standard: I love that. Let’s follow up on both. Let’s start with this watch-party merchandise thing. You talked with several different businesses that are leaning into this. What did you hear?

Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show-inspired merch is seen at Sin Miedo Market in Round Rock. Raul Alonzo / Texas Standard

So with the merchandise, I spoke to Veronica Ramirez, who is based in Austin, but sells online. And she is selling t-shirts that said “Benito Bowl.”

She runs Sin Miedo Market. And what she said is she made some really powerful comments and saying how dancing, singing, and laughing is showing pride as an act of defiance and an act celebration in the face of the backlash that Bad Bunny did receive back in September when he was first announced as the performer.

So it’s this moment to reclaim that spot. She said that for those who can’t celebrate openly because of fear of status or safety, that Latinos are gonna celebrate for them on Sunday.

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What do you think it says, I guess, about where pop culture is in the U.S., that one of the biggest superstars in the world, performing on one of the biggest stages in the world, sings primarily in Spanish and really showcases his culture in such an unapologetic manner?

Right, I think that it shows that pop culture is becoming more inclusive.

I know some of my co-workers have even put together lists of songs that people who may not know Spanish, but want to celebrate on Sunday as well should listen to leading up to the show and kind of a little synopsis of what each song means because I think there are people that genuinely want to know who Bad Bunny is and enjoy his music. I think we saw that at the Grammys, too.

All right, so we’ve heard of Super Bowl parties, but in this case, we’re really seeing a lot of Super Bowl halftime-watching parties, is that right?

So across San Antonio, there’s a list of parties happening that are centered on “Benito Bowl,” as it’s being called.

But not only that, I spoke to Eventbrite and the team at Eventbrite told me that Bad Bunny-inspired events surged more than 1,000% nationwide in the first two weeks of January with another 560% jump the following week. So this is its own cottage industry of parties that is happening across the U.S.

And with that, there is a food truck here in San Antonio called Bucán Rodeo, and they said that their pre-orders on platters have already matched what they usually sell on a day.

So it’s just this whole… The food, the decorations, the merch, all piling into this Benito Bowl trend/celebration.

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