One person and topic has dominated the NFL this 2023-2024 season, and it has little to do with football. Taylor Swift. As many know, Taylor Swift is a talented singer/songwriter who has vastly influenced the music industry with her versatile albums including Speak Now, Reputation, Folklore, and many more. She is currently on her ‘Eras Tour’, exploring her various song eras while visiting stadiums in many cities worldwide. Recently, Swift started to capture more media attention when she began attending football games that her boyfriend Kansas City Chiefs Tight End, Travis Kelce plays in.
The romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has been on the minds of many “Swifties” and football fans but for different reasons. Some football fans believe that Taylor Swift’s screen time this season has been overplayed while others (mostly female) began watching football just to see glimpses of her during the game. With the Superbowl coming up where the Kansas City Chiefs are playing against the San Francisco 49ers, many are left wondering “Has there been too much focus on Taylor Swift during the games?”
The Playoff Game between the Chiefs and Bills was documented to be the most watched divisional playoff game in history generating over 50 million viewers. The reason for this is “The Taylor Swift Effect.” Many sources and even viewers have noticed that the league had its highest viewership numbers among women since it began tracking back in 2000. Taylor Swift attending these games creates a buzz among her ‘swifties’ which leads them to have an interest in a new game that their idol watches.
NFL players such as Rob Gronkowski, J.J. Watt, and Dan Mariano have spoken out on “The Taylor Swift Effect” and have agreed that it is “great for the NFL” Even Chiefs Coach Andy Reid has been nothing but complimentary for Taylor Swift when asked, calling her “humble” and a “good girl.” Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahommes also praised Swift when asked questions about her during press conferences saying how he thinks it’s “ extremely cool” for her to be able to make it to the games and how she’s there to “support Travis [Kelce] in the best way possible.”
Even with their praises many NFL fans have argued that they spend too much time focusing on her during the games, and that it’s taking away from actual game time. However, a New York Times Article found that Swift has been shown on screen for only 25 seconds throughout the entire broadcast which typically runs for three hours. With these 25 seconds of screen time, she generated about $331.5 million for both the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL.
So I ask you: “Has there been too much focus on Taylor Swift during the games?”
