Jay Z's past political statements won't help perception of NFL politicizing Super Bowl halftime

Bad Bunny 's halftime performance this past February produced the largest drop in Super Bowl viewership during halftime in history.

Specifically, viewership on NBC and Telemundo fell from 135.9 million at the end of the second quarter to 128.2 million during Bad Bunny's performance from 8:15 to 8:29 p.m.

That's a 5.7% decline during halftime, compared to a 4% drop during Kendrick Lamar's performance a year earlier.

Before the past two years, Super Bowl audiences had typically grown during the halftime show.

According to Puck, the person responsible for selecting Lamar and Bad Bunny has now chosen himself to perform this year in Los Angeles: Jay Z , whom the NFL empowered as halftime czar in 2019.

On the surface, a third consecutive year of declining halftime viewership should concern the league.

Jay Z offers nostalgia.

He was one of the defining hip-hop artists of the 2000s.

He remained relevant well into the following decade through collaborations with artists such as Kanye West and Rihanna.

More American viewers are likely to recognize Jay Z than Lamar or Bad Bunny, even if the latter is a massive international attraction.

Still, recognition doesn't necessarily translate to interest.

Lamar and Bad Bunny divided fans along political lines at a time when partisan activism often limits the appeal of an event as mainstream as the Super Bowl.

Jay Z's political history is even more extensive.

Sports fans may remember that he helped distribute " I Can’t Breathe " T-shirts as part of protests following the death of Eric Garner.