SpongeBob Fans Rally To Remember Show's Creator, Petition NFL For Halftime Tribute

Around the world, there are billions of sports fans. In the United States, we're in the middle of football season. In 1930, the World Cup began taking place every four years to decide international soccer supremacy (congrats, France). Football and soccer and hockey, oh my!

The United States is even playing partial host to the World Cup in 2026, with new stadiums entering into the $1.2 trillion in construction spending that's surged through the country in the last year. We never don't do big Which we've proven over again with the Superbowl, which remains a completely American staple. Among sports that have such massive scale are the attached spectacles. One, in particular, is the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Some of the biggest names in music put on that show. Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, and the goddess herself, Lady GaGa. Watched by millions, the Super Bowl Halftime Show is one of the most watched performances in the whole sports world.

But there is someone more recognizable around the world than all of those names. Cherished by children and adults alike, he lives in a pineapple under the sea. You already know it: SpongeBob SquarePants.

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then consider your wish on the way to being granted. The creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg, passed away last month after a battle with ALS. His legacy lives on and fans around the world are mourning his death. Out came the SpongeBob reruns, Facebook posts, and other typical posts thanking the celebrated creator. What's less typical is a recent petition that's gone viral.

SpongeBob fan Israel Colunga started a petition to the National Football League to have a performance of famed SpongeBob song Sweet Victory performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in remembrance of Hillenburg.

"As some of you may or may not know, Stephen Hillenburg—the creator of Spongebob Squarepants—has passed away recently. As a tribute to his legacy, his contributions to a generation of children, and to truly showcase the greatness of this song, we call for Sweet Victory to be performed at the Halftime Show," reads the petition.

Now, a little background in case you don't know what we're talking about. In the 2001 SpongeBob episode Band Geeks, Squidward seeks to impress his haughty friend by starting a band. SpongeBob and friends enlist their help and, per usual, make a mess of everything and leave Squidward at his wit's end. They're supposed to perform at a massive venue and event called The Bubble Bowl. Hopeless, Squidward shows up expecting his band to be terrible, but behind his back, SpongeBob and company got their act together and tear the roof down with an electrifying performance of the song Sweet Victory. To this day, it remains an iconic SpongeBob episode.

The petition to the NFL began with a request for 780,000 signatures. It currently has more than 820,000 and is going for one million. The song in the animated series is written and performed by singer/songwriter David Glen Eisley, who has also shared the petition, getting it even more attention. As did Bob Kulick, the guitarist who performed alongside Eisley in Sweet Victory.

The creator of the petition said it started as a joke on Twitter, but blew up. The SpongeBob fanbase has rallied together to remember the creator of an adored show that's impacted millions of viewers in the most peculiar and totally SpongeBob way possible. The NFL hasn't commented on the petition and Maroon 5 is already scheduled to perform, but if this were to somehow happen, it would be huge.

For now, we await February 3. You can sign the petition here.