Germano recalled sitting with the young artist in a makeshift green room in the Fairgrounds Hotel dining room before the set. Bad Bunny appeared nervous, he said, and the two sat together in awkward silence \u2014 Germano spoke little Spanish, and the performer spoke little English at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the show we all knew that this young man was extremely special talent,\u201d Germano wrote.<\/p>\n
The Allentown gig was among Bad Bunny\u2019s earliest sold-out performances in the United States. For comparison, when he played a theater on the Las Vegas Strip several months later in May 2017, he drew only about 100 fans, and the venue lost money on the show, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny\u2019s rise after the MainGate show was rapid. His 2018 collaboration with Cardi B and J Balvin, \u201cI Like It,\u201d topped the Billboard Hot 100, and his track with Drake, \u201cMia,\u201d reached No. 5 that October. He has since won six Grammy Awards \u2014 including album of the year for \u201cDeb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos,\u201d a first for a Spanish-language record \u2014 and become one of the highest-grossing touring artists in the world.<\/p>\n
Across the Lehigh Valley on Sunday, Latino communities gathered to celebrate what many dubbed the \u201cBenito Bowl.\u201d Victor Martinez, owner of Allentown-based La Mega radio station, hosted a watch party at the Puerto Rican Club in Bethlehem, broadcasting live on air. Sarandonga, a restaurant on Hamilton Street in Allentown, held its own watch party.<\/p>\n
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk joined the La Mega event and delivered a proclamation in English and Spanish declaring Feb. 8, 2026, \u201cBenito Bowl Day\u201d in the city of Allentown and the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city of Allentown is proud to be the 8th largest Puerto Rican community on the mainland, and we\u2019re still growing,\u201d Tuerk read from the proclamation, which celebrated \u201cBoricuas who are everyday heroes and those who ascend to the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"bad](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1600x1200.png\")
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, second from right, and La Mega radio owner Victor Martinez, third from left, join community members at a Super Bowl watch party at the Puerto Rican Club in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Tuerk proclaimed the date \u201cBenito Bowl Day\u201d in honor of Bad Bunny\u2019s halftime performance. (Photo courtesy La Mega Allentown)<\/p>\n
Tuerk encouraged \u201call Allentonians to get to know their Puerto Rican neighbors, celebrate the culture, be kind to one another, and enjoy the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a majority Puerto Rican, Latino community here in the Lehigh Valley. There is a sense of pride in the community,\u201d Martinez told the Morning Call ahead of the game.<\/p>\n
MainGate, located at 448 N. 17th St., had long been a hub for Latin music programming in the Lehigh Valley, hosting reggaeton and Latin trap artists as part of its regular \u201cLatin Fridays\u201d nights. Allentown\u2019s significant Latino population made the city a natural stop for up-and-coming Latin artists working the small-venue circuit.<\/p>\n
The nightclub permanently closed in September 2025 after nearly 45 years in business. Germano cited noise complaints, rising insurance costs, crowd-control challenges, and costly lawsuits in announcing the closure.<\/p>\n
The venue, founded by his parents in 1980, held its final show in November 2024. Germano still owns the space, which currently serves as a cat shelter, and operates the Fairgrounds Hotel restaurant next door, where he said he plans to create a MainGate museum on the second floor to preserve the club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Before kickoff Sunday, Germano posted on Facebook, urging skeptics to give the performer a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen your minds and expand your horizons or next year they gonna have a polka band or David Hasselhoff LIVE at Super Bowl,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cBar none his show at MainGate is one the proudest parts of our 45-year history,\u201d Germano wrote in an earlier post. \u201cI often wonder if Bad Bunny remembers one of his first sold-out shows in Allentown, PA.\u201d<\/p>\n
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