Axios Boston

February 06, 2026
Happy Friday!
- From halftime hype to championship pressure, New England's got plenty riding on Sunday's Super Bowl.
โ๏ธ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy, with a high of 28 and a low of 18.
๐ Happy birthday to Axios Boston members Alex Pearlman and Christine Casalini!
Today's newsletter is 1,018 words โ a 4-minute read.
1 big thing: The "Benito" effect
The Super Bowl is still days away, but Nivia Piรฑa-Medina says she already feels like a winner.
- For her, it's all about the "Benito Bowl."
Why it matters: Benito Antonio Martรญnez Ocasio, the Puerto Rican artist better known as Bad Bunny, will make history with the first Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show, potentially drawing millions of viewers who otherwise wouldn't care about the Patriots playing the Seattle Seahawks.
- Yes, even in Massachusetts. The Bay State is home to the fifth-largest Puerto Rican population and hundreds of thousands of other Latinos, after all.
State of play: Look closely and you'll see Puerto Rican flags popping up alongside Patriots banners on event flyers and at restaurants and stores getting in on the hype.
- Piรฑa-Medina, a Puerto Rican restaurateur, has planned a Benito-themed watch party at her restaurant Vejigantes in Worcester.
- She's also having a TV set up at the South End location to broadcast the show, like many restaurants and bars across the state.
What they're saying: "It's Bad Bunny's world," says Francisco Recillas, better known as Boston-based DJ Sisko.
- Bad Bunny songs have been requested so often at clubs that it's become a meme โ and it's kept bilingual DJs like Recillas busy in recent years.
- On Sunday alone, Recillas has back-to-back gigs at Grace by Nia, Scorpion and Memoire.
By the numbers: A new Emerson College poll of 1,000 people suggests most of those under age 30 are excited to see Bad Bunny perform.
2. A casual fan's guide to another Patriots Super Bowl
What was once something like an annual tradition returns this weekend: The Patriots are in the Super Bowl.
Why it matters: For Pats die-hards, this means everything โย the start of a new era of title contention, the potential coronation of a new franchise quarterback and a shot at history.
Yes, but: Casual Bostonian observers would be forgiven for having questions. For example: This again? And: Already?
Don't worry. Here's a guide to the big game, in case any normies reading this get swept up in a blue-and-red maelstrom on Sunday.
State of play: The Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium, the Santa Clara-based home of the San Francisco 49ers.
- ๐บ 6:30pm Sunday on NBC and the Peacock app.
- The Seahawks are favored by 4.5 points.
How we got here: A year ago, the Patriots were adrift.
- The Pats were coming off a 4-13 record that led to the firing of head coach Jerod Mayo after a single season.
- His replacement, former Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel, was a revelation this season, leading a young, talented roster to a 14-3 record. Three playoff wins later, here we are.
Guys to know: First and foremost, Drake Maye. The Patriots' QB, only in his second year, made the superstar leap this year.
- On offense, Maye relies on a solid run game led by the running back tandem of veteran Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson.
- Cornerback Christian Gonzalez and defensive ends Milton Williams and Christian Barmore will seek to slow down Seattle's offense.
Know your enemy: Speaking of the Seahawks, they enter the game with the NFL's top-rated defense by many metrics.
- The explosive offense is led by quarterback Sam Darnold and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The bottom line: Win or lose, the Patriots are back at the pinnacle of sports. Get yourself a Maye jersey and join the crowd.
3. ๐บ Early Super Bowl ads skip the AI
Another Super Bowl means new commercials, but one marketing expert predicts companies will avoid airing ads made with AI.
Why it matters: "Consumers have been very loud in their pushback against the content," VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk tells Axios.
Driving the news: Some 36% of respondents said they would be more open to AI-generated Super Bowl ads if AI use was disclosed, per a recent Ad Age and Harris Poll survey.
- 33% said they would not be comfortable with an AI commercial at all.
And of course, we'll get our latest serving of Dunkin' ads featuring Ben Affleck. This year's ad includes 1990s TV stars like Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc and Jason Alexander.
4. ๐ BTMU: Wu prepares Boston for ICE surge
๐ซ Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order banning federal immigration enforcement officials from using city property. (Boston Globe)
- The order also directs Boston police to investigate federal agents who break city or state laws.
- Cambridge, Chelsea, Lynn, Newton and Somerville have similar directives in place.
๐ Waymo thinks its robotaxis are ready to handle Boston's icy streets. (Axios)
โ๏ธ Weekend weather alert: CBS Boston is forecasting 1-2 inches of snow with isolated areas possibly receiving 3-4 inches, plus record-breaking cold on Sunday. (CBS Boston)
5. ๐๏ธ Ticket prices slide
Tickets to Super Bowl LX are suddenly a little more affordable โ but it'll still cost you a bundle to catch the big game in person.
By the numbers: As of yesterday, the cheapest ticket price for the NFL's biggest game at Levi's Stadium outside San Francisco was $4,276 on ticket seller TickPick โ down 28% from $6,152 last Thursday.
Yes, but: Monday's average purchase price was $8,016, still ranking as the second most expensive Super Bowl on record.
Context: At the same venue 10 years ago, Levi's Stadium, Super Bowl tickets sold for $4,233 on average, according to Vivid Seats.
The intrigue: New England Patriots fans seem more willing to go to the game than Seattle Seahawks fans โ twice as many Super Bowl ticket purchases are coming from Massachusetts as from Washington, according to TickPick.
Live vicariously through rich people going to the game in person
Deehan thinks there will be a collective shrug and an attitude of "we'll get it next year" if the Pats lose to Seattle.
Steph is going to be at La Fรกbrica's Super Bowl watch party on Sunday.
This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.
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