Since Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs Tight End, Travis Kelce, started dating in mid 2023, the NFL and the sports world have been very interested in their relationship. Taylor’s fame and influence significantly boosted the global audience of American football, prompting the NFL and its affiliates to incorporate her image into their social media promotions. Her impact was immense, revealing the untapped potential she could bring to the sport.
How did it all start?
On July 8, 2023, Travis Kelce went to Arrowhead Stadium, but not to play, to watch a Taylor Swift concert where he attempted to give her a ‘friendship bracelet’ with his number on it. Months later, during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, Travis revealed that he had invited Taylor to watch one of his games, and she had accepted. On September 24, 2023, Taylor attended the stadium to see Travis play, confirming their relationship. The Swifties, Taylor’s fan base, quickly erupted with the news, celebrating the new couple.
Since that day, a lot of people, who were never interested in football started to watch the NFL, leading to spikes in merchandise and ticket sales. As a consequence, many women started to follow the season, and surprisingly, they loved it.
Furthermore, since Taylor’s first appearance in the AFC Championship (the semi-final game before the Super Bowl), on January 28th of 2024 ,she generated a staggering $366,753,290 for the NFL. According to APEX, in the season of 2024 to January 27th of 2025, on Super Bowl day, she contributed over $600.000.000.
All this money is generated from her influence on social media, coming from her appearance in games, and from her relationship with Travis.
This surge is referred to as “The Swift Effect”, raising $992,361,912, according to Apex. In the NFL social media almost 50% of their followers are now women and according to Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s senior vice president for social, influencer and content marketing,this was a long-term strategic goal: to increase engagement, capture the attention of more women, and attract young girls to American football. The NFL capitalized on Taylor’s influence to make this goal a reality.
Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce, said on CNN that when she is at airports she receives cards, messages and comments about how the parents are extremely happy that their daughters are finally watching and trying to understand the game. “They could never imagine that this would happen before”, concluded her.
Nowadays 57% of the Chiefs fan base is composed of women. Taylor is even considered a lucky charm for the Chiefs Kingdom, because of the singer, the team has won 9 to 12 games they played in the ‘23 season.
This only shows the impact of the influence she has on the games. Moreover, she surpassed audience records on “Sunday Night Football” and the “Super Bowl” involving the Chiefs since Kelce and Swift started dating.
The “swift effect” looks even stronger than it did at this time last year.
An advertisement for the Cetaphil – skincare brand – shows the relationship between a father, a fan of American football, and a daughter, a fan of Taylor Swift, getting ready to watch an NFL game. The commercial purpose is to show the connection that the pop star brought to families.
Even though her name is not mentioned, there are many elements that refer to Swift. The AD finishes with both father and daughter watching the football on the sofa, with friendship bracelets – a trend that was greatly undermined by swifties during “The Eras Tour” – and Jerseys with the numbers, 13 and 89, both referring to Taylor.
The NFL’s obsession with Taylor Swift goes beyond her popularity, becoming a strategy that exploits the power of pop culture to attract different audiences and generate discussions that go far beyond the field. The connection between Swift and American football is not just a fan story, but a true marketing and entertainment revolution.
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This article was edited by Malu Panico
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