Media rituals and cultural authorization: Negotiating representational legitimacy in the Super Bowl halftime show

National media rituals are key sites where cultural representation and legitimacy are publicly negotiated. This article uses cultural authorization to explain how institutions, media discourse, and mediated representations of audience and community reception define who can legitimately represent the nation within these events. Drawing on symbolic boundary theory and media ritual scholarship, the study analyzes coverage of Bad Bunny’s selection as the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show headliner. Using qualitative media discourse analysis (October 2025 to February 2026), the article identifies four recurring dynamics: institutional authorization through market legitimacy, boundary contestation through authenticity claims, counter-ritual formation, and community recognition. These dynamics show how media rituals transform programming decisions into struggles over national representation. The article contributes by specifying cultural authorization as a mechanism through which symbolic boundaries become publicly consequential in mass-mediated events. It argues that media rituals function as authorization infrastructures where market logics, political discourse, and mediated reception claims shape the terms of legitimate representation.