In the realm of sports, the National Football League (NFL) has always been a dominant force, attracting high viewership and fan engagement. However, in recent weeks, the NFL has witnessed an unexpected but significant influence on its viewership coming from the world of music, and more specifically, from the global pop sensation, Taylor Swift. Swift’s arrival has led to an incredible impact on the NFL, bringing two divergent worlds together.
Kansas City Chiefs center, 2x Super Bowl champion, and Ed Block Courage Award recipient Austin Reiter said her impact is profound in the football world.
“The buzz around her is definitely bigger than any other celebrity that’s come to a game,” Reiter said.
After recently going public about her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce, Swift has spread her impact from the charts to the field. This relationship garnered mass attention from both NFL and Swift fans, having profound effects on football viewership and culture.
In Swift’s first appearance at an NFL game against the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football, history was made. Around 9:30 p.m. in the second quarter of the game, the audience peaked at 29.2 million viewers, the most since the Super Bowl. According to NBC Sports, the game witnessed an increase in female viewership, with teen girls viewership increasing by 53%, along with historic increases in viewership with women from the ages of 18-24 and 35+. In contrast, the most watched baseball game in 2022, Game 6 of the World Series, peaked at 14.73 million viewers, less than half as many as Swift’s debut.
Following Swift’s first appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs’ ticket sales surged as supporters clamored for tickets, anticipating Swift might show up for the following game. The Vivid Seats website had a 173% boost in traffic for the Chiefs-Jets game page, per ESPN Stats.
Additionally, on Sept. 24, Kelce’s jersey ranked in the top five in NFL jersey sales thanks to an incredible 400% increase in sales across the Fanatics network of websites, which includes NFLShop.com.
Swift’s appearance has taken a new demographic and fanbase and introduced them to the realm of football.
“People that may not be big football fans are now watching football because the person they’re a fan of watches football,” Reiter said. “It’s super cool when you get a collection of people to have an interest in something new.”
Swift is undoubtedly one of the most well-known individuals in the world and a formidable force in the music business. Just from ticket sales in the new leg of her Eras Tour in North America, Swift brought in $2.2 billion. As a result of her current relationship with Kelce, her die-hard “Swifties” have taken an interest in football following her appearances. Swift’s presence at the Chiefs’ games has encouraged many of her fans — particularly women — to show a new interest in a traditionally male-dominated game. Senior Claire Pankros, an avid Chiefs fan and Swiftie sees nothing but positives in Swift’s appearances.
“As both a Swift and Chiefs fan, I’m ecstatic,” Pankros said. “ It makes things more interesting. I think there’s a lot of people that think, ‘oh Taylor Swift watches football, so now I’m watching football.’”
Rumors about their relationship began in July when Kelce hinted at his feelings for Swift to his brother on their podcast “New Heights.” In July, he had fashioned a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it to give to Taylor Swift during her concert but was unable to meet her before or after the show.
A few days before the Chicago Bears’ game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Kelce made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” to address the reports that the two were dating.
“I told her that I’ve seen her rock a stage in Arrowhead, and she might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead,” Kelce said. “We’ll see what happens in the near future.”
Swift was seen at Arrowhead a few days later, seated in a suite close to Kelce’s mother. Following the game, Swift and the tight end were spotted driving away together in a convertible. According to People.com, more rumors spread, saying that they rented out the rooftop of a nearby Kansas City restaurant and spent time socializing with other Chiefs players and their girlfriends.
The Taylor Swift impact is real and has given football a fresh, energetic following. According to Bleacher Report, Kelce’s personal following on social media surged to 1.1 million as of Oct. 8, while the Chiefs’ social media following saw an astounding spike of over 200,000 followers. The NFL social media team went with it and highlighted Swift as much as they could, and even changed their biography on Instagram to “Taylor’s Version.”
“I think the higher powers there in the networks and the NFL are kind of like, yes, let’s push this, this is the kind of agenda we wanted,” Reiter said. “We want more women viewers. We want more people interested, and I think they’re just running with it right now. And I can’t blame them for it.”
It progressed to the point that many football fans started to complain about the NFL showing too much of Swift, as they claimed it was taking away the real element of football.
“Now people turn their TV to NFL games to see if they catch a sighting of or glimpse of Taylor Swift,” science teacher and longtime NFL fan Anthony Palumbo said. “I’m not sure if there’s many people even watching football at this point.”
