Here’s the thing: While Travis Kelce is a national treasure, Taylor Swift is an international star.
Alright football fans: I know you’re probably sick and tired of seeing Taylor Swift on your television screens and social media feeds recently. Even the NFL’s social media pages aren’t shy about posting content of her at the Chiefs games. On October 1st, the NFL Instagram page posted a few pictures and videos of Swift cheering on her new man, and let me tell you, some fans were not happy.
“Can nfl calm down with her? I don’t understand the hype,” wrote user @haleystassia on an NFL Instagram post.
Likewise, @chikiscupcake1 commented, “This is football we want football if we wanted Taylor Swift we’d go to her concert.”
One comment by user @johnmdub1 particularly made me laugh. They said, “Bro there’s no way she’s not doing this for attention and publicity.”
Yes, because Taylor Swift, with a net worth of $740 million, 274 million followers on Instagram, and over 36.6 billion streams, needs the NFL to help her gain publicity. Let’s be real. The NFL and The Chiefs franchise might not have known it at the time, but they needed her to drive up their ratings. They would be stupid to stop posting this content and giving the Swifties what they want.
Everybody knows how extensive Swift’s fanbase is and it makes total sense that her relationship with Kelce would bring him more fame. Statistics are literally showing how much Kelce’s stardom has risen since his romance with Swift hit the internet. The Billboard Pro reported that for The Chiefs October 1st Sunday Night Football game against The Jets, “viewing among girls 12 to 17 was 53% higher than the season’s first three Sunday Night Football broadcasts. Women 18 to 24 were up 24%. Women over 35 were up 34%.”
Viewership isn’t the only thing that has increased since her debut in the friends and family suite cheering on her new man. Kelce’s jersey sales spiked, as well as the amount of times he’s been searched in Google and the overall ticket prices for the following Chiefs game.
What I don’t understand is why fans are complaining. Don’t they want to see the NFL have continued success? Don’t they want football to have a more diverse, inclusive fanbase?
Perhaps this exposure will encourage more women and more people outside of the United States to watch football every week and fall in love with it.
I for one did not care one bit about football until last fall when I worked the Sunday shift at an Irish pub. Now you will find me with my lucky Eagles hat on every Sunday ready to watch the game. I want the same for other fans who are new to watching the sport, and I think that Taylor Swift is opening up so many possibilities for new fans- whether that was intentional or not.
How about instead of whining, we all take this opportunity to celebrate love, football, and everything in between?
(Go Birds, though!)