Getty Image / Jason Hanna
The rumored Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift romance appears to be very, very real, as the pop star is in the future Hall-of-Famer’s box for today Chicago Bears Vs Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. And, this is absolute boon for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell.
Take a look at the images from Arrowhead of Taylor Swift in the box with Travis Kelce’s mom, Donna.
Taylor Swift at Arrowhead, sitting with Travis Kelce’s mom: pic.twitter.com/QXLZctwdB7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 24, 2023
Cool. She’s there, and it seems there’s at least something to the rumors of romance between the two. But, that’s very much secondary to the effect Taylor Swift even showing up at an NFL game as the date of a star player will have on the league.
Simply put, as big as the NFL is, Taylor Swift is bigger globally. And, it’s not close. The NFL has 28 million followers on Instagram. That’s pretty good! Taylor Swift has 272 million, dwarfing the NFL. she’s the fifteenth most-followed person in the world on the platform. And, she adds another 94 million on X, formerly Twitter. She’s larger than life.
And, importantly for the NFL one of the main demographics Taylor Swift brings to the table is young women, a demographic that the NFL would love to get a bigger reach into and make even casual fans and viewers of the league. Think of how many people don’t like football and watch the Super Bowl for the halftime show. You’re going to get some of those people every week for Kansas City Chiefs games now. I’m sure the ratings for this Bears-Chiefs game, which already would be massive as the Sunday Game of the Week on Fox, will be even bigger because of this.
It’s not just in the USA that this is going to help. Let’s face it. The NFL is getting close to maxed-out in terms of reach in America. There simply aren’t that many people in America that have no opinion on whether they like football or not and are waiting to be convinced either way.
But, overseas? That’s where the money in the future is to be made for the most valuable sports league in the world. The game is starting to catch on in select parts of Europe and in Japan as well. But, most of the world is untapped for a league that wishes to have the same international reach as the English Premier League.
That’s where Taylor Swift hanging out with Travis Kelce comes in. Millions, yes, millions, of people around the world are interacting with the NFL for the first time today. And, it’s due to Taylor Swift. She’s not just a superstar in America. Her international tour stops immediately sold out, with most people who put in for tickets unable to get them.
For her six shows in Singapore next year, more people requested tickets than there are people in the nation with a 5.8 million population. She’s simply a superstar in all corners of the world on a level that very few people in pop culture are.
It’s been a monster year for Swift, who has released one original album and two remastered albums in the last twelve months. Most notably, her ‘Eras Tour’ is on pace to absolutely smash nearly every record and is a cultural phenomenon.
Who knows. Today could be the peak of Taylor-Travis mania. But, if it is indeed a long-term thing, or at least something that lasts for a while, the NFL as a whole will benefit greatly.