What Church Leaders Can Learn from the Super Bowl 2026
Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP via Getty Images)The Moment Everyone Watched and The Leadership Most People Missed
On Sunday night, more than a hundred million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl halftime show.
Most people saw lights.
Music. Dancers. Fireworks.
But leaders should have seen something else.
They should have seen vision under pressure.
Systems executing in real time. Culture shaping global emotion. Message carried through complexity.
The 2026 halftime show, headlined by Bad Bunny, was one of the most culturally significant and technically complex productions the NFL has ever staged. It centered on Puerto Rican identity, unity across the Americas, and a closing message that love is stronger than hate, according to behind-the-scenes reporting and performance coverage.
That is not just entertainment.
That is leadership.
The Scale Matters More Than You Think
The halftime show reportedly reached more than 135 million viewers globally and drove massive digital engagement across platforms.
To put that into leadership language:
That is influence.
That is attention.
That is emotional reach.
And leaders must understand this reality:
You are not competing with other churches anymore.
You are competing with world-class experiences.
#1: Vision Must Be Bigger Than Comfort
The performance intentionally celebrated Puerto Rican culture and was performed largely in Spanish on one of the largest stages in American media. It also delivered a unifying message across North, Central, and South America.
Strong leaders do not build vision around comfort.
They build vision around calling.
If everyone instantly agrees with your vision, it probably is not vision. It is preference.
Vision is proven when people question, and you still move forward with clarity.
#2: Excellence Is Built Long Before the Moment
The halftime show lasts about 13 minutes.
But the preparation is massive.
The production required nearly 10,000 theatrical pyrotechnic elements, hundreds of performers, and complex stage logistics built under tight time constraints.
Even beyond this specific show, Super Bowl halftime productions require months of planning and must be set up in minutes without disrupting the field or broadcast.
Here is the leadership translation:
People think Sunday creates church culture.
It does not.
Monday through Saturday creates Sunday.
#3: Constraints Do Not Kill Vision
The creative team faced strict field rules that prevented placing real vegetation on the turf.
So they solved it by using about 380 performers dressed as plants to create the environment visually.
That is leadership.
Not complaining about limits.
Designing inside limits.
Most organizations do not lack vision.
They lack creative problem-solving.
#4: Culture Moves People More Than Programs
The show recreated community life, neighborhood imagery, and even included a real wedding ceremony to reflect identity, belonging, and shared human story.
People do not give their lives to programs.
They give their lives to identity and belonging.
Leaders who build culture win long term.
Leaders who only build programming exhaust teams and confuse people.
#5: The Bigger the Platform, The More Important the Message
The show ended with a unifying message centered on love, inclusion, and shared humanity across cultures.
Influence without message is noise.
Platform without purpose is performance.
Leaders do not need bigger platforms.
They need clearer messages.
#6: Systems Make Moments Possible
Behind the scenes, the halftime show required military-level precision timing, massive logistics coordination, and nearly zero margin for error.
If systems are weak, experiences feel chaotic.
Teams burn out.
Culture feels unstable.
Systems are not corporate.
Systems are care at scale.
#7: Leaders Must Translate Meaning During Cultural Moments
The performance also highlighted real cultural and social realities, including Puerto Rico’s resilience, infrastructure struggles, and identity conversations.
Modern leaders are not just information carriers.
They are meaning translators.
People look to leaders to help them interpret complex seasons.
#8: Great Leaders Share the Spotlight
The performance included guest appearances from global artists and community storytelling elements that shifted focus from one performer to a shared narrative.
If leadership only works when you are visible, it is not leadership.
It is dependency.
Healthy organizations build distributed ownership.
#9: Emotional Impact Beats Technical Perfection
The show resonated because it combined cultural pride, storytelling, identity, and shared emotional experience across a massive global audience.
People remember how experiences felt more than how they were structured.
That is leadership reality now.
#10: The Future Belongs to Leaders Who Can Hold Both
The halftime show proves modern leadership must hold tension well:
Systems and soul
Structure and story
Excellence and empathy
Scale and intimacy
The world is not choosing one or the other.
It is demanding both.
The Leadership Reality Most Organizations Must Accept
Today’s audiences are shaped by environments built with:
Story
Design
Emotion
Precision
Technology
Cultural intelligence
Leaders who ignore this will feel like they are working harder every year for a smaller impact.
Leaders who embrace this will shape culture.
The Leadership Question Every Leader Must Answer
Can you:
Build systems that protect people?
Build culture that forms people?
Build messages that move people?
Build environments that hold people?
If yes, you will lead into the future.
If not, leadership will feel heavier every year.
Closing
The Super Bowl teaches one leadership truth:
Moments change people.
Systems create moments.
Culture sustains change.
A Final Word (ChurchLeaderOS Coaching)
If you feel like you are working harder but seeing less transformation, that usually is not a passion problem. It is usually a systems and culture problem.
And that is fixable.
That is the work I help leaders solve every week.
See you next Saturday!
Eric V Hampton
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