As Super Bowl LX approaches with Bad Bunny set to make history as the first Spanish-language solo headliner, some around the league are already looking ahead to who should get the stage next.
In The Athletic’s annual anonymous NFL player survey, athletes were asked to name their dream halftime performer. While many players reached for nostalgia with a choice that is no longer possible, the data also highlighted one clear favorite among active stars: Drake.
Few NFL Players Want To See Drake Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show In Future
The anonymous survey, summarized by multiple outlets, asked players across conferences and positions to name their ideal Super Bowl halftime act, allowing respondents to list more than one.
The overall winner of the poll was the late Michael Jackson, reflecting how enduring his 1993 Super Bowl 27 performance remains in players’ minds.
“To be clear: Most of the players who voted for Michael Jackson first asked our reporters whether their choice had to be alive; none of the respondents seemed to be under the impression that Jackson, who died in 2009, was a potential future halftime performer.”
Once responses were filtered to focus on living artists, one name stood out. “Among living artists, Drake – who was, in a way, part of last year’s Super Bowl halftime – was the most popular choice.”
Drake was seen as the “most popular choice” among current players when the question turned to future shows, placing him ahead of a wide range of genre picks, including Beyonce, George Strait, Chris Stapleton, E-40, Florence and the Machine, and others.
The survey also recorded specific comments backing alternative options. One AFC offensive player said, “Beyonce. They should just let her do it every year,” while an NFC offensive player argued for “George Strait in there, followed by a close Chris Stapleton,” referencing Stapleton’s previous national anthem performance.
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Others pushed for Bay Area artists like E-40 or more niche choices such as Florence and the Machine. However, in terms of aggregated preference among artists who could realistically be booked going forward, Drake emerged as the consensus favorite in the player pool.
Has Drake Performed At the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Drake has never headlined a Super Bowl halftime show, and he has not been listed as a primary co-headliner in the NFL’s official halftime bills. The Athletic’s survey coverage, however, noted that his name was tangentially involved in the event in the recent past.
In explaining his status in the poll, the piece pointed out that Drake was, in a way, a part of last year’s Super Bowl halftime.
That phrasing reflects how Drake’s music and public profile intersected with the 2025 show rather than a formal on-stage appearance. Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance at Super Bowl 59 included elements that touched on their well-publicized rivalry, as he was dissed throughout Kendrick’s halftime show last year.
Even so, the official billing for that show listed Lamar as the headliner, and current reporting does not identify Drake as a past Super Bowl performer in the sense that artists like Lamar, Usher, Rihanna, Shakira, or Jennifer Lopez have been.
Based on the survey, if the league and its partners aim to align future halftime programming with locker-room preferences, Drake is the artist most NFL players reportedly want to see next on that stage.
