One such survey dropped into my inbox just this morning, and boy howdy, is it juicy AF. Mere days after Kendrick Lamar killed it at the Super Bowl halftime show, VegasInsider.com asked more than 3,000 NFL fans about their preferences for the 2026 game. If you look per state, Arizona clearly prefers Billie Eilish for next February's halftime show. However, if you look at it per NFL fandom, Ed Sheeran has instead topped the list among the Arizona Cardinals. Remind me again, why do we still need numbers at this point?
So, then, what wildly uneducated insights can we draw from just such a stark set of findings? Most Arizonans have good musical taste. (Eilish was also the top choice for Montana and Indiana.) We can also assume that the Cardinals fandom in no way shape or form speaks for Arizona at large, and there's a Grand Canyon-sized division between these groups. What exactly that means socially, politically, etc. I can't say, but it sure seems important if our state wants to be seen as young and progressive versus fans of millionaire street buskers. At least it all seems to be in line with Arizona's ongoing "purple-fication," a point made even more clear thanks to the same color being assigned to Eilish on these survey maps.
Aside from those Arizona-centric insights, this survey revealed some other important gems, including:
- Taylor Swift nabbed the most votes (12.01 percent) followed by Adele (10.12 percent) and Eilish (8.95 percent).
- Among female respondents, Adele ranked No. 1 (12.86 percent). Meanwhile, among male respondents, Swift outmaneuvered everyone (11.42 percent).
- Among respondents 18 to 24 years old, 21 Savage was the No. 1 pick (20.63 percent). Swift, meanwhile, earned 18.53 percent of votes among the 55 and up crowd. And, for some reason, everyone from age 45 to 54 chose Red Hot Chili Peppers (10.679 percent).
- If we let last year's winner choose the next halftime show, it'd also go to Swift. (The singer was the top pick among the most NFL fandoms, with nine.)
- Cardinals fans may want Sheeran, but at least we didn't pick Chris Brown, who was the top choice for Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Given our our own recent coverage, Eilish would absolutely dazzle during Super Bowl 60 from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The young singer has found the courage and curiosity on her third album (last year's "Hit Me Hard and Soft") to best deliver a memorable and compelling halftime show. Plus, she brings an emotionality and intensity that would feel conceptually in line with Lamar's recent performance, which pushed the boundaries of what folks expect from the halftime format. If nothing else, it certainly would be yet another feather in Eilish's cap, who at that point would only be 24 years old. Plus, if ain't Eilish, maybe those Gen X folks are right in choosing RHCP.
