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A new report has revealed that the National Football League, admist all of the Taylor Swift-driven attention, pushed its broadcasting partners to run ads for her upcoming Eras Tour film for free.
Swift, who first appeared at the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead on Sunday, September 24, then showed up at the Chiefs vs. Jets game on Sunday Night Football with a bevy of celebrities in tow.
According to the report, which comes from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, the NFL asked all four of its broadcasting partners — CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN — to run commercials for Swift’s upcoming concert film, which will be hitting theaters next week and is tracking to make over $100 million in its opening weekend.
The NFL asked CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN to run Taylor Swift commercials for free
As noted in the report, ESPN and NBC caved to the NFL’s demands and ran ads for the Eras Tour film during their pregame shows on Sunday and Monday. NBC also ran a commercial for the film during the first quarter of the game after the opening touchdown.
The NFL was already facing heat regarding its coverage of Swift prior to this report, as NFL fans rebelled against the league updating its social media profiles with Swift-related messaging and imaging.
Despite the fervor from longtime football fans, the NFL obviously sees this Swift moment as a net win, as the Sunday Night Football game between the Chiefs and Jets drew 27 million viewers, which made it the most-watched television program to air on a Sunday since Super Bowl 57.
Not everyone involved seems all that thrilled with the coverage, however, as Travis Kelce — who Swift is reportedly dating and is the reason she’s been showing up to Chiefs games — said on his podcast that he thinks the league is “overdoing it.”
This weekend, Kelce and the Chiefs will be in Minnesota to take on the Vikings. At this time, there has been no indication of whether or not Swift will be there.