Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Show Led to the Most Ridiculous Fake News of All Time

1. Thanks to social media, we live in the worst time in history when it comes to consuming real news.

It’s been this time for a while, but the constant stream of misinformation being fed to everyone continues to get worse every day.

What took place on Monday regarding Bad Bunny’s halftime show was just staggering.

It started for me when I saw this tweet from the New York Daily News shortly before 1:30 p.m. ET.

Halftime showdown: Bad Bunny nets 135M viewers to Kid Rock’s 6M https://t.co/7VQYEuHOhZ
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 9, 2026

This made no sense to me since the Super Bowl rating was not out and wouldn’t be out for at least another 24 to 28 hours. So, I wanted to know where the number came from. The Daily News story cited the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Cincinnati Enquirer story cited CBS News for the fake halftime viewership number.

For CBS News to report a viewership number that wasn’t even out yet was just shocking to see. This wasn’t some independent blog. This was CBS News. Everyone at CBS News knows that Super Bowl ratings don’t come out the morning after the game. How could they run this story? How did this get past editors and fact checkers?

So, how did all this happen? It appears CBS News got the number from a Bad Bunny fan account that made everything up.

Bad Bunny officially has the most-watched Super Bowl Halftime Show in history, with more than 135.4 MILLION viewers. pic.twitter.com/Y4oCOj8YD6
— Bad Bunny HQ (@BBPRTV) February 9, 2026

What’s beyond fascinating here is that the Bad Bunny fan account posted the halftime viewership number at 11:10 p.m. on THE NIGHT OF THE SUPER BOWL.

But nobody cared. Tons of outlets ran with the made up numbers.

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime show was the most-watched halftime show of all time drawing in ⁠135.4 MILLION viewers.

Best halftime show ever? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Ib1WlSzqS2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 9, 2026

Last night, 135+ million people chose love and patriotism over whatever that is. pic.twitter.com/DFSz1zi0Cq
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 9, 2026

Official numbers for Bad Bunny's #SuperBowl performance have yet to be released, though CBS reported that early figures indicate it was the most-watched halftime performance of all time with more than 135 million viewers. https://t.co/NkKsZQJyMh
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) February 9, 2026

When 135 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday, they were captivated by Bad Bunny as well as the little boy who appeared in the show, receiving the Grammy Award from the global superstar.https://t.co/L3raCBCKOx pic.twitter.com/4RVS3JHrq5
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) February 10, 2026

🤯 135 Million people tuned in to the Bad Bunny halftime show making it the most watched show since 2018

(NBC) #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/uPHIs3bapf
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) February 9, 2026

I understand that people who are not in sports media may not understand how ratings work, but how anyone can think a rating for the halftime show would be out two hours after it ended is just downight scary. We can’t be this collectively stupid as a country. We just can’t. But it seems we are.

If anyone cares about facts and the real ratings, they will be out late Tuesday afternoon.

2. I posted this a couple of hours before the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Super Bowl Sunday and the only thing Draft Kings is offering is a stupid 30% boost on a sucker bet single game parlay. Disgraceful.
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) February 8, 2026

Calling single-game parlay wagers “sucker bets” was an understatement. Here’s why you should never ever bet those “offers” from DraftKings, FanDuel and all the others.

DraftKings had 12 promoted SGPs yesterday, with odds ranging from +465 to +1400. They went 0/12 https://t.co/gfjhGXM8PC
— Isaac (@roundrobin42) February 9, 2026

3. Every single sports media person who makes predictions before a season should be forced by law to revisit those predictions after the season, as Scott Van Pelt did last night. Not only is it nice to be held accountable, but this is also good content.

"WOAH BABY, RED HOT!" 😂@notthefakeSVP reviews his 2025 NFL season predictions. pic.twitter.com/nf535ejyIz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 10, 2026

4. It was pretty cool to hear Sam Darnold, the day after he won the Super Bowl, talk about how much he loved SportsCenter as a kid and hear him name drop the anchors he idolized.

"I idolized guys like Neil Everett, Stan Verrett, Kenny Mayne."

Will Sam Darnold fulfill his childhood goal of being an ESPN sportscaster? 👀 pic.twitter.com/089LkO9Qqv
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 9, 2026

5. If you are a YouTubeTV subscriber, you will now have the option of signing up for a sports-only package.

Flex your options 💪

10+ genre-based plans are rolling out over the next several weeks with more ways to subscribe to your favorite sports, news, entertainment and family channels, priced lower than the main YouTube TV plan.
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) February 9, 2026

The sports plan will cost $65 a month for current customers.

New YouTubeTV packages will be offered to customers this week. | YouTube

6. Recent SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast episodes you should catch up on:

• NBC’s Maria Taylor
• The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis
• ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt
• NBC’s Mike Tirico
• ESPN’s Laura Rutledge

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Listen to who did the voiceover, and appears beginning at the five-minute mark, for this 1985 NBC report on professional wrestling.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.