Photo Credit: NFL / YouTube
Die-hard football fans will have more to whinge about as NFL embraces Taylor Swift’s attendance of Travis Kelce’s games. Why wouldn’t it? Viewership is reaching Super Bowl levels of engagement.
The will-they-won’t-they nature of Taylor Swift showing up to support Travis Kelce has attracted attention to football games—peeving off those fans in the process. The wall-to-wall coverage of Swift’s appearance during Chiefs games garnered much gnashing of teeth online as fans complain that the three-hour football game features too many shots of the pop-star. The backlash online has prompted the NFL to respond to its haters.
“We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally,” the NFL told People in response to the criticism about wall-to-wall Taylor Swift coverage. “The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real time, as it’s an intersection of sport and entertainment—and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport.”
“The vast majority of our content has remained focused on the game, our players and variety of our initiatives, including our Toy Story Funday Football alt-cast, the international games, and more,” the statement concludes. The NFL seems happy to lean into a moment that is attracting more attention to the game. Kelce’s jerseys have enjoyed a 400% spike since Swift appeared at two games in support of the tight-end.
The internet is having fun with the viral moment too, as a TikTok user wrote break-up lyrics for a Taylor Swift/Kelce tribute song. For what it’s worth, neither Swift nor Kelce have confirmed a relationship. Will Swift appear at the upcoming Chiefs vs. Vikings game on October 8? If she doesn’t and the Chiefs lose, is that also an omen? Either way, the NFL has enjoyed capitalizing on Swift’s virality for a brief moment in time.
