There was so much build up to this year’s halftime show. All of the handwringing, virtue signaling and talking points amounted to…well, nothing too insanely different than what we normally get from a Super Bowl halftime show.
I don’t speak Spanish. I’m not big on reggaeton. I was still entertained. Plus, unlike the Turning Point USA show, it was exactly what I was told it would be. That’s gotta mean something, right?
My buddy, who is fluent in Spanish, said that it was “the horniest halftime since Prince.” Between that and a slew of celebrity cameos, I would say Bad Bunny delivered. Now we can turn the page and look ahead.
Plenty of other sites will deliver “way-too-early” projections for who will be in Super Bowl LXI. It seems like a futile gesture, so I’m going to lean into what I know and deliver a way-too-early look at the contenders for next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
You have to know what it is the NFL is looking for. They don’t want to be embarrassed. That’s why the league is out of the nostalgia act business. For every Prince, there are too many performances from groups of yesteryear like The Who. It’s why they are moving towards who is dominating the moment over acts with a deep catalog. There was hype for Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. Katy Perry was met with a shrug and Maroon 5 was met with straight vitriol.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at who the candidates are.
10) – The “been there, done that” repeat
The NFL loves them some Bruno Mars and he has a new album due out in February. He will also hit the road in April, playing stadiums across North America all summer long.
Lady Gaga is also a possibility here, although I’m not sure she would be the star of halftime one year after making a cameo in Bad Bunny’s performance. She will also be playing stadiums all summer long. She’s also a good bet in the event that the NFL is feeling nostalgic, as next year will be the tenth anniversary of her Super Bowl LI halftime show.
Also, as long as her husband is producing the halftime show, I don’t think you can rule out Beyoncè, but it also feels like the Netflix Christmas halftime show from 2023 felt enough like a Super Bowl halftime show that it would be too soon to go back to that well.
ODDS: +25000
9) – Foo Fighters
Look, I’m a white dad in his mid-40s. You had to know they were gonna be somewhere on this list. But, next year, if the halftime show was going the rock route, Dave Grohl and company kind of make sense.
Genres be damned. They are undeniably superstars with more global appeal than 99% of current rock artists. The band is hitting the road for its first stadium tour this summer.
A bonus for halftime consideration: Grohl has tons of goodwill, and is always down for a weird, genre-crossing collaboration.
ODDS: +18000
8) – Cardi B
While she isn’t Bad Bunny, this is a choice that would satisfy a lot of parties. From the NFL’s standpoint, the Super Bowl halftime show gets a headliner with billions of Spotify streams and tens of millions in equivalent album sales.
She also will satisfy Turning Point USA’s need for something to rage against, which will make the NFL and Roc Nation happy, because “I’m not watching this” think pieces will keep the Super Bowl halftime show top of mind all year long. She also made a cameo in Bad Bunny’s show, but I don’t think that would eliminate her from contention. All she did was dance.
ODDS: +10000
7) – Olivia Rodrigo
My personal choice, because she is awesome. She’s got pop princess cred, but her music sounds more like Blink 182 than Taylor Swift.
Rodrigo likely has a new album coming out this year, and it doesn’t appear she is touring, so the NFL could get her coming out party all to itself. Plus, this is someone with a built in list of surprise guests – BFFs Conan Gray and Chappelle Roan, recent collaborator David Byrne, and Jack White, who she helped induct into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame last year.
ODDS: +5000
6) – Florence & the Machine
If the NFL wants to do something unexpected, the British band would be a fun, safe way to accomplish that. In fact, one anonymous defensive player from the NFC said this is exactly who he wants to see.
The band accomplishes something the NFL has valued since abandoning the idea of the Super Bowl halftime show being the pop music retirement show. They have a big audience that probably isn’t already captive to the NFL. With a big tour and a new album coming in 2026, Florence and the Machine may check all the boxes for the NFL’s biggest stage.
ODDS: +3500
5) – Ed Sheeran
I’m not sure how we got here, but a guy that makes the most boring music in the world is a bona fide global superstar. He has never even sniffed a Super Bowl halftime show, so bringing him in for Super Bowl LXI could make sense.
His catalog is familiar even to people that don’t think they know an Ed Sheeran song. He can deliver the “Purple Rain” moment: a ballad lit by cellphone flashlights. He also is following the career arc of Super Bowl L halftime stars Coldplay – going from an acoustic sound to making music exclusively for spin classes, so there’s enough energy there to keep the show from being a total bummer.
ODDS: +1800
4) – Drake
No matter what you thought of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl XLIX performance, two things are clear. It had the world captivated and sent Drake into hiding. Make no mistake though. That wasn’t Roc Nation or the NFL taking sides in the feud.
The NFL clearly likes to be a part of whatever the dominant pop culture conversation is. Being the only place to see Drake’s very public response to Kendrick would definitely accomplish that, and with a new album due this year, it would be a good fit. You know DraftKings and FanDuel would bend over backwards to help promote it.
ODDS: +1000
3) – Ariana Grande
If it’s Ariana Grande, I think she would be the biggest celebrity to play Super Bowl halftime since Beyonce, maybe even since Michael Jackson. Plenty of people on this list would be coming off of a big tour and a new album. Grande is the only one that would be coming off a film franchise that was a true pop culture phenomenon.
Roc Nation and Apple Music love a halftime show with an innovative set. Grande could deliver something truly theatrical.
ODDS: +700
2) – BTS
I think the top two could be separated by as little as a coin flip, because they are both absolutely massive artists that will dominate the cultural conversation this summer. It comes down to what does the NFL want to accomplish.
In Roger Goodell’s push for global dominance, a BTS halftime show makes a lot of sense. KPop, whether you like it or not, is not going away. BTS is the biggest name in the genre and they have screaming, adoring fans all over the world. Getting them for Super Bowl LXI would be a big win.
It would also be a great way to announce that the NFL will be playing a regular season game in Asia for the first time. And who just so happens to have the global marketing rights to South Korea? Well, would you look at that! It’s the Los Angeles Rams, whose home stadium will be hosting Super Bowl LXI!
ODDS: +500
1) – Harry Styles
Just like Cardi B, Styles would have the folks at Fox News and TPUSA high fiving as they get something to rail against and make their content easier. If they had a problem with a halftime performer that only sings in Spanish, can you imagine the mileage right wing grifters could get out of Styles’s gender fluidity?
For the NFL, there is a lot at work here, but it all starts with the fact that very few artists enjoy a cult following as devoted as Styles. When he announced his series of summer residencies earlier this year, my Instagram timeline was flooded with images and videos of women declaring that their only goal for 2026 was to be at one of those shows.
The push for global dominance is also important. When did the NFL start its annual London games? 2007. That would make Super Bowl LXI the perfect place to kick off a year long celebration of 20 years of international influence. With Styles as the centerpiece, maybe this is a spot to do for British artists of the last 20 years what the halftime show did for West Coast rap the last time the Super Bowl was in LA.
ODDS: +350
About Demetri Ravanos