On Sept. 24, 2023, Taylor Swift was spotted in Arrowhead Stadium at the Kansas City Chiefs game to support her rumored boyfriend, pro football player Travis Kelce. This event and Swift’s appearance were detailed in several news publications and networks. The rumors began to swirl after Kelce attended Swift’s concert and said on his podcast, “New Heights,” with his brother Jason Kelce, that he wished he had the chance to give her the friendship bracelet he had made with his number on it.
When the rumors began, the National Football League (NFL) took the opportunity to reference Swift in various ways. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) reporters started to join in on the excitement by seeing how many of Swift’s song titles they could fit into a broadcast. One reporter during ESPN’s SportsCenter said, "Clearly, Travis Kelce, at this point in time, is trying to Shake It Off and get back out there. He knows how much he's needed and that he's The Man," in reference to Taylor Swift songs from albums “1989” and “Lover,” respectively.
Both Kelce and Swift continued to express privacy on the matter, until Swift attended her first game at Arrowhead Stadium. While the two are still keeping their relationship details relatively private, the NFL is capitalizing on the Swifties who are now tuning into football games for the chance to get a brief look at the pop star. This is supported by a report from NBC, which states that viewership for the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets averaged 27 million viewers, making it the most watched game since the Superbowl in February 2023.
Swift’s appearance at the game was highlighted by the amount of times the cameras focused on her watching the game. According to a report from Variety, the cameras cut to Swift 17 times during the game. In addition to that, during several commercial breaks, the broadcast was showing promotions for Swift's upcoming film, The Eras Tour. Footage of Cornelia Street, the title of one of Swift’s songs, was also shown during the Chiefs versus Jets game on Oct. 1.
On social media, the NFL has been referencing Swift in numerous ways. A promotional video was posted to their accounts with the caption “Taylor Made for Sunday Night,” a play on the concept of “tailor made,” which refers to something being designed for a specific purpose. In the video, Swift’s song “Welcome to New York” is playing. After Swift attended her first game on Sept. 24, the NFL changed their TikTok bio to “9/24/23 Taylor was here.”
There has been some pushback from football fans about the coverage on Swift during the games being too frequent, with The Daily Mail making note of fans saying that the Taylor Swift coverage is “destroying football.” The NFL appears to be garnering a new audience of viewers and the organization is using this momentum to navigate how best to market to a wider audience. Since then, Kelce and Swift have been spotted out publicly several times. It seems as though NFL fans will have to get used to Swift sticking around for a while, because it seems like audiences have not seen the last of her attending games in which Travis Kelce is playing in.
By: Haileigh West, Associate Editor
Graphic by: Shae-Lynn Henderso, EIC