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At this point, Taylor Swift‘s positive impact on the NFL is undeniable.
Even players have been forced to concede that the pop superstar’s presence in and around the league is a huge win for the league as a whole.
But many of the new fans Swift brought with her knew little to nothing about the game of football. Now, a year on, that’s changed drastically. Not only have many of Swift’s fans become diehard Kansas City Chiefs fans. They’ve also embraced the game of football with the same (at times concerning) passion with which they did Swift herself.
Taylor Swift Fans Are All In On The Chiefs And The NFL As A Whole
Margaret Fleming of Front Office Sports recently sat down with several Swifties turned NFL diehards (Chiefties, as they’re known) to learn more about their newfound love of the game.
Longtime fans will be shocked to learn just how much effort these new fans, especially those who live abroad, are going through to learn and love the game of football.
Take, for instance, 33-year-old Franny, who lives in Portugal and has turned into an NFL fanatic.
“I usually plan my sleep schedule around Chiefs games during football season,” she told Fleming as she sat awake at 1 a.m. local time waiting for Monday Night Football to start.
“I’m fully committed. It’s insane, because this time last year, I didn’t even know the difference between a linebacker and a running back. Like, I had no idea. And now I know names of not just the Chiefs players, but other teams,” she added.
Franny told Fleming that she previously spent time in the U.S. while pursuing her education, but never showed any interest in football.
Then there’s Jenna, an 18-year-old college student in Pennsylvania.
“I definitely would say I was a casual NFL watcher. But now I’m in a dorm and I brought a TV just to watch the Chiefs games,” she said. “Sometimes I have to sit down and admit, like, holy crap, this is my whole life.”
There are thousands and thousands of guys out there who just read that last sentence and nodded in solidarity.
Morgan Barrett, a 29-year-old from Florida, says she’s all the way in with or without Swift at this point.
“I want to know more. I want to not just be this basic person watching football,” she said.
After the Chiefs won the Super Bowl said that “my heart about fell out of my butt. I was like, ‘How did I get here?’”
Barrett added that she’s a longtime Cincinnati Bengals fan as well.
Somewhere, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is eating this all up. Swift didn’t just bring new fans to the NFL. She brought committed, long-term fans who seem to be all-in.
Whether they really stay after Travis Kelce retires or should he and Swift break up remains to be seen. But it sure sounds like they’re hooked.