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Americans expressed their preference for alternatives to the Super Bowl this year, and Kid Rock wasnt it. The Puppy Bowl brought in 15.3 million viewers last Sunday according to official Neilsen numbers released Thursday, the pup-centered events biggest audience since 2018. The Super Bowl side event featuring romping baby dogs, now in its 22nd year, offers a lighthearted alternative for anyone alienated by the yearly American football ritual. In the Puppy Bowl, two teams of puppies (Team Ruff and Team Fluff) wrestle, romp and nap their way down a miniature football field featuring live play-by-play commentary, referees, and even a Lombarky trophy. The event raises money for animal shelters and also adopts out most of its own star pups, whether they emerge victorious or not. Last year, 12.8 million viewers tuned in to the Puppy Bowl, which airs on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, and HBO Max. The fluffy Super Bowl alternative drew in 6 million viewers in its first year and has been averaging around 12 million viewers in the last handful of years. This years Puppy Bowl delivered its strongest performance in nearly a decade, and its success across linear and streaming highlights our unique ability to unite audiences around content that feels good and does good, Discovery Channel Head of Content Joseph Boyle said in a press release. Were grateful to bring viewers so much joy and are deeply proud of the purpose at the heart of this event. The Puppy Bowl wasnt the only alternative Super Bowl show in town. Billed as the All-American Halftime Show, conservative org Turning Point USA promoted a MAGA-approved alternative show headlined by Kid Rock for people angry about Bad Bunnys booking at Super Bowl LX. This year, Super Bowl LXs official halftime show starring Bad Bunny averaged 128.2 million viewers enough to put it in the all-time top four, but a dip from Kendrick Lamars record-setting 133.5 million viewers in 2025. The performance was almost exclusively in Spanish, a choice that inspired outrage from President Trump and others in his orbit, but still inspired a massive swath of people to tune in. MAGAs hater halftime While the Kid Rock halftime show was originally expected to stream on X, by game time Turning Point USA hit a snag and was pointing followers solely to its YouTube stream. UPDATE: Due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to stream The All-American Halftime Show on X, the organization wrote on X. Head on over to our YouTube channel tonight around 8PM ET to watch the full show . On YouTube, the competing performance pulled six million concurrent viewers at its peak. On MAGA-friendly video site Rumble, the concert had been viewed 2.3 million times as of Thursday morning. If all two million of those views happened live, which isnt likely, that could leave the Kid Rock-led show at around 8 million viewers without factoring in some of the niche networks with relatively small audiences like OAN that aired the performance. Much like the Puppy Bowl, Turning Post USAs alternative Super Bowl halftime show was pre-taped. An intro video from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth kicked things off, praising the organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk for its courage. During the headline performance, Kid Rock visibly struggled to lip sync the words to his own hit song Bawitaba, joining the backing track only occasionally a fact made even more puzzling given that it was pre-recorded. MAGA-approved musicians Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett also performed during the alternative halftime show. By Thursday afternoon, Turning Point USAs video of the Kid Rock-led concert was up to 21 million views, which is closer to the only numbers that Turning Point has provided publicly. The NFLs official YouTube channel racked up more than 78 million views of Bad Bunnys performance during the same time frame. Republicans vs. Bad Bunny In a Truth Social post following Bad Bunnys halftime show, President Trump called the international superstars notably joyful celebration absolutely terrible. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, Trump said, sidestepping the fact that the NFL itself chose Bad Bunny to reach a massive, untapped audience within the U.S. and abroad. The game itself wasnt always riveting, but Bad Bunnys Super Bowl halftime show was widely considered to be a performance for the ages. The inventive Spanish language set showcased energetic choreography, intricate street scenes of New York and Puerto Rico, many nods to the islands culture and its struggles, and even a real, live wedding. Trump wasnt the only one to criticize Bad Bunny. House Speaker Mike Johnson told a reporter last year that the NFL made a terrible decision when it invited Bad Bunny, one of the most popular musicians in the world. “There are so many eyes on the Super Bowl, a lot of young, impressionable children, Johnson said. The irony is rich given the fact that Kid Rocks own songs have glorified statutory rape. The 2001 Kid Rock song Cool, Daddy Cool features the lines Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage, and See, some say that’s statutory, but I say it’s mandatory lines that drew fresh outrage leading up to the Super Bowl. Other members of the MAGA base questioned or outright denied Bad Bunnys status as an American citizen, including super influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who called the performer a fake American citizen a claim so plainly racist that even his brother called him out. “Puerto Ricans are Americans & Im happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island,” Logan Paul wrote on X.
Category:
E-Commerce
For investors, DraftKings has been anything but a sure bet. The company reported earnings on Thursday, which showed revenue of nearly $2 billionan increase of 43% year-over-yearand earnings per share of $0.25. We closed 2025 on a high note. Fourth quarter revenue increased 43% year-over-year and we achieved records for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. Our core business is strong as we enter 2026, said Jason Robins, DraftKings Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, in a statement included with the earnings release. However, despite the strong numbers, DraftKings stock was down more than 15% during pre-trading on Friday morning, and is now down almost 30% since the beginning of the year. Further, over the past calendar year, its down more than 45%. The catalyst? Future uncertainty. Specifically, the company is forecasting fiscal year 2026 revenue guidance range of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion and a fiscal year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $700 million to $900 million, which is below estimates and softer than anticipated. The broader issue is that the sports gambling and prediction markets are evolving quickly, and theres the distinct possibility that regulation could rein things in, or that individual states could start to tax the companies or users themselves to different degrees. Further, prediction market companies like Kalshi and Polymarket are now in the fray, and both of those companies may offer users a different way to scratch their itch by offering betting products that are exempt from state taxes due to the way theyre structured. DraftKings, too, has a predictions app (DraftKings Predictions) available to users in 38 states, while its sports betting app is available in 28 states. DraftKings isnt alone in taking it on the chin from the markets. Flutter Entertainment, the largest sports betting stock by market cap, and parent company of FanDuel and others, was likewise down more than 4% before the market opened on Friday, and down more than 35% year-to-date. MGM, which also runs a betting app, was down by similar amount, as was Caesars.
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E-Commerce
Maybe you first bonded over shared workplace frustrations. You gradually started finding each other every lunch break and synchronizing trips to the coffee machine. Eventually they become a confidant for venting about your real life outside of work. They become your work spouse. And if you find yourself strolling the greeting card aisle sometime today, you may even feel compelled to get this person in your life a trinket for celebrating the most romantic day of the year. Turns out, there are options available. For my work wife on Valentines day, one option reads from Card Factory. Ive finally found someone just as inappropriate as me! A card to show appreciation for your work spouse on Valentines Day might seem like a sweet gesture. But if you have an actual spouse or partner waiting at home. . .they might think differently. Im sorry, one TikTok creator posted after spotting the card in the wild, but the argument that would ensue if my partner came home from work with one of these cards from his colleague on Valentines day. “Im already mad thinking about it,” one user commented. The video quickly racked up almost 700,000 views and hundreds of comments. Another quipped: I didn’t know card factory even sold divorce papers. A third wrote: “the person who designed them cards just LIVES to stir up drama, i just know it.” While honoring a colleague on Valentines Day might be taking things a little far if youre otherwise spoken for, the idea of a work wife or work husband has been a feature of American offices for decades. Its also been much-parodied online, with the overly flirtatious colleague stereotype a trigger for many. Im not even married but Im already planning an argument with my husband, one comment under a viral skit read. I punched my phone by reflex, another added. The boundaries of the work spouse relationship can get blurry. Its by nature more intimate from other workplace relationships, but it must remain strictly platonic. Some scholars have argued that the connection actually sits somewhere between friendship and romance. Having lunch with my work wife, one TikTok creator posted. Hoping my wife wife doesnt find out. Of course, having close friendships at work is no bad thing. In fact, its good for both productivity and performance. According to a new study from KPMG, employees said that having workplace friendships increases their motivation to go above and beyond their job description. More than half (57%) would even take a salary 10% below market rate if it meant being able to have close friends at work. But labeling someone other than your spouse your wife or husband, however innocently, can easily spiral into conflict, especially given the close proximity that working together necessitates. A 2023 Newsweek poll found that 45% of adults in the U.S. dont think its appropriate to have a work spouse. Only 21% deemed it okay. Having a work spouse is one thing. But getting them a Valentines Day card if you have an actual spouse at home? That might be a one-way ticket to the doghouse.
Category:
E-Commerce
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