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Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce took the NFL by storm last year. The pop star and future Hall-of-Famer were an inescapable duo.
The NFL embraced Taylor Swift’s presence in a big way last year. And, this year, they had to think about the pop star when making their master schedule.
Right now, Taylor Swift has just started the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour. But, this fall, she will return to North America to finish it up. That means stops in New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Miami next year. Of course, all three of those cities have NFL teams that need that stadium in the fall.
So, the NFL had to accommodate Swift, according to NFL Vice President of Broadcasting, Mike North.
NFL's Mike North said the league had to account for Taylor Swift in its scheduling, with her having NFL stadium dates in Miami, New Orleans and Indy. He said no consideration was made to have Chiefs at Bills close to her concert date in Toronto, despite conspiracy theories.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) May 16, 2024
That part about the Bills is interesting. The Chiefs are scheduled to play in Buffalo the day after Taylor Swift wraps up three shows in Toronto. Many thought that the NFL scheduled the Bills game that week intentionally to increase the odds that Swift would be in attendance to watch Travis Kelce play. Last year, the NFL saw a viewership bump in games that Taylor Swift attended, especially among women.
That carried over to Super Bowl LVIII, which featured Kelce’s Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers. Swift fans got the storybook ending, as the Chiefs won in overtime, 25-22. The game saw huge ratings as diehard Swifties who may not have watched America’s biggest television event tuned in to get a glimpse of their favorite pop star.
Overall, I’d expect Swift to be at a considerable amount of Kansas City games this upcoming season. Last season, she attended thirteen games, and the Chiefs won ten of them, including all four playoff games. Assuming America’s Couple is still together, it seems like a safe bet she gets close to that number this season.