Sports
World Series champs — again! Game 7 win cements Dodgers’ dynasty
TORONTO — On a night when the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team in 25 years to repeat as World Series champions, one glorious era in the franchise’s history ended while another one very much looks like it might continue indefinitely.
The Dodgers closed out the Toronto Blue Jays with a 5-4 win in extra innings in Game 7 on Saturday, a fitting finale for what was easily the best World Series of this decade and perhaps much longer than that. As Los Angeles closed in on another crown, it was easy to think about the fourth lefty on the Dodgers’ bullpen depth chart, a 37-year-old who just happens to be a future Hall of Famer and who was watching his last game as an active big leaguer. That end-of-the-bullpen southpaw might very well be the greatest Dodger of them all.
The lefty is Clayton Kershaw, who announced his retirement late in the season and has been on something of a farewell tour ever since, only getting into a couple of postseason games before warming up in the bullpen when Game 7 ended in the 11th inning. Kershaw hasn’t been a mere bystander: His snuffing of a bases-loaded Toronto threat in the Dodgers’ epic 18-inning Game 3 win in this World Series was crucial. And that’s gratifying because it means Kershaw was at least a contributor to the third championship of his storied career. He went out on a high note.
While Kershaw is calling it quits, the team he is leaving behind is as strong as it has ever been. Indeed, it might be as strong as any team has ever been when you consider a multiyear window, and the trajectory of the franchise strongly suggests this already tremendous period of domination is not going to end anytime soon.
As the Dodgers bid adieu to an all-time great, it’s worth considering the Kershaw era as a whole; where the Dodgers were when he arrived in Los Angeles as a touted first-round hotshot; and what they have become since — which is, simply put, one of baseball’s greatest dynasties.
MANY STAR PLAYERS, managers and executives passed through Dodger Stadium over the years, but the post-1988 championship drought stretched on and on. By the time the turmoil during the latter part of the Frank McCourt ownership era gave way to the arrival of the Guggenheim group in 2012, the Dodgers were wallowing in mediocrity even as Kershaw rose to the peak of his profession, winning his first Cy Young award in 2011 and finishing second in 2012.
Kershaw was great, but the Dodgers, overall, lacked an identity. They weren’t even the economic bullies that they’ve become. During Kershaw’s first five seasons, the Dodgers ranked from eighth to 10th in Opening Day payroll, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Then came the Guggenheims, and after the 2014 season, Andrew Friedman arrived from the Tampa Bay Rays as the Dodgers’ lead baseball executive.
“I think when the new ownership group came in, and Andrew came in, I just think it felt very, like, professional,” Kershaw said. “It felt very, like, ‘This is how you do it.’ And I was younger too, so I didn’t understand it. But now … all of us are in it together.”
By the time Friedman arrived, the Dodgers’ climb back to the elite was already underway. They won back-to-back National League West titles in 2013 and 2014, seasons in which Kershaw added two more Cy Young Awards and an MVP trophy. But the Dodgers’ pennant drought persisted.
Since then, the Dodgers have morphed, re-morphed and morphed again into baseball’s most relentless organization. The stars have trickled in nearly every season, either from within or without. For every superstar the Dodgers have acquired — including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman (all former MVPs, like Kershaw) — others such as Manny Machado and Trea Turner have come and gone.
The Dodgers’ payroll reached No. 2 in 2013, and it has remained in the top five ever since. According to Cot’s, L.A. began the season with MLB’s highest payroll seven times, including this one.
Yet all through this rise in revenue and payroll alike, the Dodgers never slacked in scouting, development, analytics, research, medical science or any facet in running an organization. If it exists, the Dodgers are in pursuit of industry leadership in it. And in doing so, they have become what some see as baseball’s newest evil empire.
“There’s always critics,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We’re in a big market. We’re expected to win. Our fans expect us to win. I can’t speak to what revenue we’re bringing in, but our ownership puts it back into players, a big chunk of it. That’s the way it should be with all ownership groups.”
Increasingly, the subject of organizational identity seems to come up in conversations about industry trends. The idea is that every organization needs to have a clearly defined set or traits, a style of play that serves as a guiding light for everything from scouting, drafting, development, free agency and the trade market.
What is the Dodgers’ identity? Really, it’s all the above. And more. When Kershaw joined the Dodgers, they were a proud franchise that arguably was defined by a lustrous past. Now, the Dodgers are the one team that can claim to be all things.
“I think that should be everyone’s goal,” L.A. starter Tyler Glasnow said. “Try to build the best playoff team you possibly can. You obviously have to get there, and it’s a little different for the Dodgers. They have done so many things for so many years, from development to signing guys. They’re in a different position than most [teams].”
Whatever their opponents’ strength is, the Dodgers are going to do it better. The brain trust in L.A. remains young. The resources keep growing. And so the chasm between the Dodgers and everyone else keeps getting wider.
Kershaw arrived with a franchise with a proud past trending toward the middle. He leaves with one whose ceiling might be too high to identify.
“It starts with Andrew and [Roberts] and all the way down,” Kershaw said. “There’s no hierarchy here. Everybody does their job in trying to win the game. There’s not one thing that’s more or less important than the other thing.”
ONE THING THAT strikes you when you’re around the Dodgers is the degree of loyalty that their players express to the organization. Certainly Kershaw himself could have left a number of times, and in recent years when he worked on one-year contracts, there were frequent rumors he might want to finish his career with his hometown Texas Rangers.
But Kershaw never left, and the Dodgers never tried to push him out, even though they likely could have replaced his late-career rate of production with a younger, more cost-efficient player. Instead, they let Kershaw linger in his annual decision on whether to keep going and rolled out the red carpet when he wanted to return. Because of that, he will become one of the most precious things in baseball: a one-team Hall of Famer.
But it isn’t just about how they treat their stars. Take Miguel Rojas, once the starting shortstop for the Miami Marlins who has become a fringe player in L.A., a defensive specialist and a sometimes starter when other players are injured. The Dodgers are his original organization, and even as his career has iterated, he remains Dodger blue at heart and it was his home run that knotted Game 7 in the ninth inning.
“The Dodgers gave me an opportunity to go to minor league camp in 2013,” Rojas recalled after Game 6. “Then I got a chance to play in the big leagues in 2014 when I really wasn’t an impact player in the minors. They gave me an opportunity, and I will never forget that.”
Enrique Hernandez cited the communication between the team and the players as what separates the Dodgers from other teams.
“Other organizations, they’re like, ‘We’re going to do things our way, and you’re just a player, you work for us,'” Hernandez said. “But I think these guys just want to make sure that we’re on top of our game at all times.”
That too is what the Dodgers have become: a team that players want to play for, where they feel appreciated.
“Even playing against them, watching, it was just always in the back of my mind: I wanted to be a Dodger and play on that team,” L.A. starter Blake Snell said during the NL Championship Series. “To be here now, it’s a dream come true. I couldn’t wish for anything more.”
The Dodgers don’t sign every free agent, though last winter it felt like it at times. As the Dodgers’ payroll has increased, so has their international influence. Of course, the marquee signing was Ohtani during the 2023-24 offseason. Following in his footsteps have been Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, both of whom played vital roles in the Dodgers’ run to the latest championship.
Accompanying the focus on overseas stars has been a tremendous growth in business partnerships looking to capitalize on the overwhelming popularity and attention that is given to the Japanese superstars, particularly Ohtani. So, the Dodgers’ revenue not only keeps growing, but it’s hard to imagine what the ceiling for it could be.
Yet despite the depth of resources, they’ve been able to play footsie with the various luxury tax thresholds because on top of all of the money that goes into their big league roster, they are still cutting no corners in their scouting and development program, either internationally or in the states.
As a proxy to illustrate how consistent the Dodgers’ pipeline is, consider this: According to Baseball America’s annual preseason prospect ratings, the Dodgers have not ranked outside of the top 10 since 2013. This season, which they entered with baseball’s highest payroll and a new World Series trophy in tow, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked their system No. 1 in the sport.
“People just overlook the fact that every year, we probably have a top-five farm system in baseball,” Roberts said. “This year, I think we probably have the No. 1 or No. 2. We pick at the bottom of the draft every year, towards the bottom, and we still have young guys, whether by way of trade or development, that continue to help and contribute.”
This is what it all comes down to. The Dodgers aren’t beating everyone in just spending or just analytics or just scouting or just development or just free agency. They are beating everyone in everything.
“You see free agents and you see other guys, they want to be a part of something that is built to last,” Kershaw said. “We don’t want to be one-hit wonders as free agents. You know when you sign up to be a Dodger that you’ll be in these [playoff] situations.”
No, the Dodgers aren’t a shoo-in to win the World Series every year. The just-completed World Series was the perfect illustration of that. With a bounce here or there the other way in two of Toronto’s losses, the Blue Jays would be champs and Game 7 would have never happened. That’s always going to be the case in baseball’s current playoff format.
But the Dodgers are a virtual shoo-in to be considered a leading World Series contender every year. The early 2026 title odds began to circulate this week and — spoiler alert — the Dodgers are already prohibitive favorites to win the 2026 World Series.
If you have Dodgers fatigue, you better put on a pot of coffee, because unless something drastic changes, they are not going away for a very, very long time. And if you wonder what that means in the context of baseball history, consider this: The great New York Yankees dynasty, the lineage that stretched from Ruth to DiMaggio to Mantle, lasted from 1921 to 1964.
When a team reaches this ongoing level of organizational success, hovering above all others, it can create a self-reinforcing dynamic that lasts for decades. The Dodgers are in Year 13 of their current postseason streak, with five NL pennants and now three World Series titles, but they very well might just be getting started.
“The mainstays that we have in our lineup, that are going to be here for a long time, and just the continuity, the expectation now is this, every single year, and that’s not easy to do,” Kershaw said. “But that’s what everybody expects.”
THE ARGUMENT THAT Kershaw is the greatest Dodger ever is an easy one to make. Certainly, this is subjective, but it’s a proposition with a statistical defense. This isn’t to diminish the impact of legends such as Jackie Robinson, great for ways far beyond what he did on the field, or Sandy Koufax, whose cometlike career ended at age 30 because of injury. That’s just it: Many of the Dodgers’ all-time greats either had short careers or spent a lot of time with other teams.
Take a bottom-line metric such as the Baseball Reference version of WAR. You can always quibble about the conclusions of WAR, particularly when it comes to pitchers; but when one player has a sizable edge over another, WAR is probably right. Kershaw has a sizable edge over every former Dodger, with his 80.9 bWAR far ahead of second-place Pee Wee Reese (68.5).
Maybe this will change in time, especially if Ohtani plays into a ripe old age. But for now, it’s pretty clear that in terms of cumulative accomplishment, Kershaw is the most prolific Dodger who has ever lived.
Here is where the strength of the Dodgers might be best illustrated: For some teams, the loss of a franchise icon can be a little discombobulating because that player is so entwined with the identity of what the franchise has become. With these Dodgers, there’s no such concern.
It’s not to take away one iota from anything that Kershaw has ever done. It’s just that with Ohtani around as one of the most famous athletes on the planet and Betts and Freeman among the best players of their generation as surefire Hall of Famers, the Dodgers have an identity without Kershaw.
He has been the constant through all of this, the golden link in the great chain that binds an era of one of baseball’s flagship franchises to the next. For much of Kershaw’s career, especially when it came to the postseason, it felt like he was tasked with carrying the Dodgers on his back as he built a legacy and a résumé that stands right alongside that of any other pitcher in the history of an organization that has produced some of baseball’s best, not the least of whom is Kershaw’s close friend Koufax.
Yet by Saturday’s finale, Kershaw’s presence on the Dodgers was really more luxury than necessity, and that’s certainly no insult to the great lefty. It simply speaks to the behemoth that the Dodgers have become.
Once, the Dodgers’ success was attached to the question of how far Kershaw could take them. By the time he celebrated with his teammates for the last time on Saturday, the worm had turned. The Dodgers had become so powerful that as the final chapter came to a close, Kershaw was just a passenger on one of baseball’s most glorious rides, one whose end is so far away that no one can imagine when or where or if it will ever end.
Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele says he hasn’t been superstitious during the RedHawks’ 22-0 run, a streak that has them sitting alongside No. 1 Arizona as the final two unbeaten teams of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season.
When pressed, though, he acknowledged he wears lucky shirts to every game, at the request of his 3-year-old daughter.
“She loves my shirts that I wear underneath my quarter zip,” Steele said. “I’ve got a Skyline Chili shirt and I’ve got an Ultimate Warrior T-shirt. She likes that.”
His players? Well, they make no such claim.
Senior guard Peter Suder, an All-Mid-American selection last season, is particular about what he puts on his feet every night.
“They’re washed, but I wear the same game socks every single time, regardless,” he said.
Brant Byers, reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, can’t play a game until he scarfs down a bunch of candy before tipoff. Jolly Rancher, Life Savers, anything sweet.
“A bag, a midsized bag that you can get at the gas station,” he said. “Usually, I’ll eat the whole bag.”
Junior guard Eian Elmer‘s superstition is more costly. The James Harden Volume 9 Adidas shoes he wears during games retail for nearly $200 online. Elmer started the season with eight pairs; now he’s down to six. Why? Because if he has a bad game, he refuses to play in those shoes again, choosing to give them away instead. During his worst effort of the season — he finished 0-for-4 shooting against Central Michigan on Jan. 13 — Elmer (11.6 points per game) even ditched an orange pair at halftime.
“I had two bad games in them,” he said. “It was time to give them up.”
For Miami this season, even a bad game has resulted in a victory.
A year after the RedHawks lost to Akron — and to Steele’s half-brother, Zips head coach John Groce — in the MAC tournament championship game, they’re chasing an unblemished season and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007.
At No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, Miami leads the nation in scoring (93.7 PPG) and field goal percentage (53.4%). The RedHawks are also top 25 in 3-point (37.9%) and 2-point (62.6%) shooting. They hold the longest winning streak in MAC history thanks to the chemistry of a roster that returned its best players from last season and the players’ ability to quickly turn the page after each victory.
Up next (6:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, ESPN+) is a Buffalo team that nearly ended the perfect season in overtime two weeks ago (a 105-102 Miami win) — and one loss could spoil any shot the RedHawks have at an earning at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, instead requiring a conference tournament title to secure a berth on Selection Sunday.
Twenty-two games in, though, the campus in Oxford, Ohio, is abuzz about basketball.
Tickets to Miami’s 2024-25 season opener against Wright State sold for $13. Attendance for that game at Millett Hall, the RedHawks’ home arena, was reported at just north of 2,000 — about 20% of the building’s capacity. As of this writing, a ticket for the team’s next home game against rival Ohio on Feb. 13 can’t be found for less than $100. (One of the few remaining courtside seats would cost you $514 on StubHub.) And an attendance record of 10,640 was set at last Saturday’s win over Northern Illinois.
“To have the crowd that we had last game is something that we’re not even used to really, but it adds another element to the games and makes them even more fun than what they had been in the past,” said Byers, whose 15.4 points per game lead the team. “I know there were a few games last year where we were probably pushing a thousand fans.
“It’s really wild to go from a completely quiet gym to a packed, loud gym.”
After leading for most of last season’s MAC tournament title game, Miami saw Akron come back from an 18-point deficit, losing on a shot by former Zips star Nate Johnson with 2.3 seconds to play. Some returning players watched that film a dozen times. Others stayed off social media so they wouldn’t have to see it. But they all agreed on one thing: They wanted another shot.
“I know we’d just gone through probably the worst thing a team could go through basically, but we still felt the connectivity with us,” Suder said. “I think I was the first one to talk to [Steele] within a week and I told him within 10 seconds of our [individual] meeting that I don’t want to leave, I want to come back. And then I told him to tell all of the players in their meetings.”
That decision created a domino effect, and other top players agreed to return, giving Miami continuity few teams in America can match — the sixth-most returning minutes (62%), per KenPom. The RedHawks understand and trust one another. They know one another’s tendencies on the court.
That’s how they are in position to chase a dream.
“I’m really proud and happy for [Steele],” said Wally Szczerbiak, a second-team All-American selection who led the school to the Sweet 16 in 1999. “They have done it the right way through player development and hard work. The team is connected and very close off the court, which shows up in pressure, clutch situations on the court. Miami is a special place with special people walking around on that campus and it’s great to see them going to games to enjoy the ride.”
Amid the newfound hype, Steele has preached keeping focus on the road ahead instead of the rearview mirror. The RedHawks have used that mentality to navigate close games, three of which have been decided by five points or fewer, including two in overtime.
The players point to their connectedness for allowing them to stay honest with one another and play through adversity. Over the summer, they had heated on-court battles in pickup games — which Byers characterized as “probably too intense at times” — after their MAC tournament loss. The RedHawks knew how close they were to their goals. But Steele doesn’t want them to get caught up in the possibility of perfection, or the potential consequences of failing to achieve it.
“My biggest thing for us is that we can always control our own destiny,” Steele said. “I know this: If we win three games in three days in Cleveland [at the MAC tournament], we’ll get the automatic bid regardless of what happens.
“That’s where my mind keeps on going back to and it’s like, ‘How can we peak at the right time? How can we get our team to play the best that it can possibly play in March?’ I’m not as consumed with our record.”
Sports
Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck advocates for cholesterol screening after father’s cardiac arrest death
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Three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck made sure to avoid defenders when throwing passes in his 18-year NFL career, but now he makes sure that he keeps his cholesterol down in his post-playing days.
Hasselbeck’s father, Don Hasselbeck, passed away suddenly at age 70 from cardiac arrest. Following his death, Hasselbeck’s mother urged him to get screened, and he was humbled by his results.
“It was really my mom who said to, you know, there’s three boys in our family and said, ‘Boys, I want you to get screened for everything, you know, calcium score in your heart, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol,'” Hasselbeck told Fox News Digital in a recent interview with the Family Heart Foundation.
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Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) of the Seattle Seahawks throws a pass in the second quarter against the Chicago Bears in the 2011 NFC divisional playoff game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, on Jan. 16, 2011. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
“And we kind of like to be honest kind of rolled my eyes at the cholesterol one, because I was like, ‘Oh, that’s for people that are out of shape, the people that I crush on the Peloton.’”
“I was humbled really when my scores came back. A lot of my other scores were great, fantastic, and the cholesterol thing was too high, and I was shocked to be honest, and I can’t take credit for taking ownership. I just was trying to honor my mom kind of in a tough time for her and through the process accidentally probably helped myself quite a bit and probably helped my kids. It was eye-opening.”
Hasselbeck has partnered with the Family Heart Foundation for their “Tackle Cholesterol: Get into the LDL Safe Zone” campaign. As a football player, Hasselbeck said he always knew if he was injured, but with cholesterol, the threat is invisible.
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(Left) Matt Hasselbeck, (middle) Don Hasselbeck, and (right) Tim Hasselbeck all pose for a photo. (Courtesy of Matt Hasselbeck)
“When you’re a football player, a lot of the injuries that you have, you can see them. It’s a shoulder, it’s a knee, it’s a high ankle sprain. It’s like orthopedic. With things like LDL cholesterol, it’s invisible. And you can exercise all you want or eat as great as you want, but if you aren’t in that safe zone of where you need to be cholesterol-wise, it can lead to all kinds of different issues, and cardiac arrest is one of them,” Hasselbeck said.
Hasselbeck, who has a family history of cardiovascular disease, urges families and fans to get screened. Hasselbeck hopes people will visit CholesterolConnect.org for more information or to order a free, one-time at-home cholesterol screening.
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Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck greets fans before the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)
“I’m really passionate about trying to tell everyone it’s the easiest thing ever to get screened. Get screened, find out what your numbers are, find out what those numbers mean, and then you’ll know how to lower your risk,” Hasselbeck said.
Hasselbeck played for four different teams in his 18-year career: 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, three with the Indianapolis Colts, two with the Green Bay Packers, and two with the Tennessee Titans. In 209 games, he completed 60.5% of his passes for 36,638 yards with 212 touchdowns and 153 interceptions.
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SUPER BOWL LX is making history: For the first time, the halftime show will feature a Spanish language-dominant solo performance, led by multi-Grammy-winning Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. While Latin powerhouses such as Shakira and Jennifer Lopez have electrified previous shows, this groundbreaking moment represents something bigger — a celebration of Latin music’s explosive global reach and a nod to the 40-plus-million Spanish speakers calling the U.S. home. This isn’t just entertainment; it’s a cultural earthquake showcasing how American identity and inclusivity are constantly evolving.
As Super Bowl 60 festivities kick off, let’s revisit magnificent moments when Hispanic artists took center stage at halftime.
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan was the first Hispanic artist to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in 1992. Estefan performed “Live for Loving You” and “Get on Your Feet” on a 50-foot elevated platform to close out the “Winter Magic” themed halftime show in Minneapolis. The Cuban-American artist returned to the Super Bowl stage seven years later and performed alongside Stevie Wonder and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Super Bowl XXXIII. As part of the “A celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing” halftime show in Miami, Estefan performed her single “Oye,” which blends Spanish and English lyrics.
Arturo Sandoval and the Miami Sound Machine
Sandoval and Latin Pop group Miami Sound Machine shared the halftime show stage with Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett at Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. Sandoval delivered a memorable trumpet solo during Bennett’s rendition of Duke Ellington’s classic “Caravan.” The show, entitled “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye,” featured more than 1,000 performers, including dancers, acrobats and jugglers. The show concluded with a spectacular performance of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” with all the performers sharing the stage.
Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias
The Disney-produced Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show in Atlanta featured Hispanic pop stars Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias. In front of more than 70,000 fans, the co-headliners performed “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand” on a giant circular stage. The elaborate millennium celebration also included Phil Collins, Toni Braxton, an 80-person choir and Edward James Olmos as the show’s narrator.
Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars made Super Bowl history at 28 years old when he headlined the halftime show at Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. Mars became the youngest artist to solo-headline the Super Bowl halftime show. He was accompanied by the eight members of his band, The Hooligans, which also includes his older brother Eric “E-Panda” Hernandez on drums. The group members were outfitted in matching Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane suits. Mars’ six-song set also featured a special guest appearance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, culminating in a joint performance of “Give It Away.” Two years later, Mars was a special guest at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, where he performed “Uptown Funk” and joined Beyoncé and Coldplay during the show.
Gustavo Dudamel and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles
LA Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) were special guests during Coldplay’s halftime performance at Super Bowl 50. The Venezuelan conductor directed YOLA members in performances of “Viva La Vida” and “Paradise “alongside the band at Levi’s Stadium. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin asked Dudamel to join the halftime show, which was watched by 115.5 million viewers.
Fergie and Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas
Two members of the Black Eyed Peas trace their roots to Hispanic lineage. Taboo Nawasha, born Jaime Luis Gomez, has Mexican and Native American roots. Fergie, the group’s lead singer at the time, shares Mexican ancestry through her great-grandmother, who was from Guanajuato, Mexico. Their eight-song halftime set at Super Bowl XLV included hits “I Gotta Feeling” and “Let’s Get It Started.” The halftime show also featured guest performances by Usher and Guns N’ Roses guitarist, Slash, attracting a total audience of 110.2 million viewers in 2011.
Shakira
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez were the first Hispanic duo to co-headline a Super Bowl halftime show in 2020. On the same day Shakira turned 43, she opened the show with “She Wolf,” “Empire,” and “Ojos Así.” As the show drew to a close, the native Colombian star teamed up with Lopez for the grand finale of “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” during which Shakira showcased the Afro-Colombian dance champeta. The Super Bowl LIV halftime show drew an estimated 103 million viewers.
Jennifer Lopez
In a performance that celebrated Latin culture and Latina empowerment, Jennifer Lopez co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show alongside Shakira. Lopez’s seven-minute portion of the set included hits such as “Jenny from the Block” and “Ain’t it Funny.” Her then-11-year-old daughter, Emme Maribel Muñiz, performed “Let’s Get Loud,” which carried a powerful message about immigration policies. Lopez wore a double-sided feather cape with both the American and Puerto Rican flags as her daughter sang “Born in the U.S.A.” The entire 14-minute production won an Emmy and received four nominations.
J Balvin
The Colombian icon known as “Reggaeton’s Global Ambassador” energized the Super Bowl LIV stage alongside Jennifer Lopez during the mash-up of “Qué Calor” and “Mi Gente.” During the performance, the Spanish-language artist wore his Air Jordan 1 collaboration. The debut of this shoe during the halftime show marked the first partnership between a Latin artist and the Jordan Brand.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny appeared as a surprise guest during Shakira’s cover of “I Like It” during the Super Bowl halftime show in Miami. The Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton music performed his verse from Cardi B’s 2018 hit, which blends Spanish lyrics into the mix. The pair then followed up with a collaboration on Shakira’s popular Spanish track, “Chantaje.” Bad Bunny will be the first Latin American male artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show in 2026.
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