Taylor Swift is supposedly dating Travis Kelce, and that is sending both the sports world and “Swifties” into a spiral.
While, admittedly, Swift’s dating life is entertaining, I think it sometimes gets taken too far, and that is certainly the case with her latest beau, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
Speculation of the two dating began over the summer and was fueled by some comments from Kelce and his brother, Jason, another famous footballer for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fans took it as a confirmation when Swift showed up in the family box alongside Mama Kelce when the Chiefs took on the Chicago Bears.
While some may still debate the validity of the relationship with rumors of a publicity stunt, one thing is for certain: people cannot stop talking about it. CBS reported even the NFL is surprised by how quickly the wildfire has spread.
“I knew that it would definitely create a stir, but I don’t think any of us realize just the extent of how far and wide this would go,” Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s SVP of Social, Influencer & Content Marketing, told CBS Sports. “Another thing that’s been a little surprising is that it really hasn’t slowed down. It’s continued to build in this momentum of conversation.”
While I wonder if this is really a positive shift of focus from sports to entertainment, after some research, I really began to see more benefits than downsides.
Essentially we are seeing a shift with the two worlds colliding and people who have never watched football jumping on the bandwagon because their idol shows up.
Viewership numbers have increased for the Chief’s recent games. According to Billboard, “The lean-into the hype about the alleged Traylor romance reportedly led to an average of 27 million viewers for the Chiefs’ 23-20 win” against the Jets on Sunday.
According to NBC Pressbox, that makes it the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII.
The Chiefs’ followers on social media have grown by more than 200,000, and Kelce’s follower count went up by more than 400,000, according to the NFL.
This could only be a result of one of the world’s most beloved musicians because, frankly, nobody cared this much about other celebrity-athlete relationships.
Swift has 266 million followers on Instagram, is the most streamed Spotify artist, has become a household name, and, of course, has an incredibly loyal fan base.
Now, that fan base is turning their attention to the same thing Swift is: football.
“Analytics showed that the Swift-centric broadcast saw a 53% uptick in viewership by girls ages 12-17 from the season average over the first three games of the season, as well as a 24% bump among women 18-24 and a 34% increase for women over 35,” Billboard said.
Last week’s game between the Bears and Chiefs saw a 63% jump in viewership among women age 18 to 49,” CBS Sports said.
To accommodate for the increase in women watching the game, NBC “did everything it could to remind viewers that Swift was once again in the house,” Billboard said.
During their coverage of the game, they threw to Swift and her friends in the family skybox 17 times. They also had a special Taylor promo, The Voice host Carson Daly explaining how football works to Swifties at the beginning of the game and a reference to “Cornelia Street.”
While I think this is a bit excessive given what football is actually about, I can’t say I blame them for wanting to interest the new viewers.
At the end of the day, sports are something that should bond people together, and if Swift is what gets fans into the game, I’ll take it. I just hope they stick around after the relationship buzz dies down.
A new era of football fans
Taylor Swift is supposedly dating Travis Kelce, and that is sending both the sports world and “Swifties” into a spiral.
While, admittedly, Swift’s dating life is entertaining, I think it sometimes gets taken too far, and that is certainly the case with her latest beau, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
Speculation of the two dating began over the summer and was fueled by some comments from Kelce and his brother, Jason, another famous footballer for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fans took it as a confirmation when Swift showed up in the family box alongside Mama Kelce when the Chiefs took on the Chicago Bears.
While some may still debate the validity of the relationship with rumors of a publicity stunt, one thing is for certain: people cannot stop talking about it. CBS reported even the NFL is surprised by how quickly the wildfire has spread.
“I knew that it would definitely create a stir, but I don’t think any of us realize just the extent of how far and wide this would go,” Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s SVP of Social, Influencer & Content Marketing, told CBS Sports. “Another thing that’s been a little surprising is that it really hasn’t slowed down. It’s continued to build in this momentum of conversation.”
While I wonder if this is really a positive shift of focus from sports to entertainment, after some research, I really began to see more benefits than downsides.
Essentially we are seeing a shift with the two worlds colliding and people who have never watched football jumping on the bandwagon because their idol shows up.
Viewership numbers have increased for the Chief’s recent games. According to Billboard, “The lean-into the hype about the alleged Traylor romance reportedly led to an average of 27 million viewers for the Chiefs’ 23-20 win” against the Jets on Sunday.
According to NBC Pressbox, that makes it the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII.
The Chiefs’ followers on social media have grown by more than 200,000, and Kelce’s follower count went up by more than 400,000, according to the NFL.
This could only be a result of one of the world’s most beloved musicians because, frankly, nobody cared this much about other celebrity-athlete relationships.
Swift has 266 million followers on Instagram, is the most streamed Spotify artist, has become a household name, and, of course, has an incredibly loyal fan base.
Now, that fan base is turning their attention to the same thing Swift is: football.
“Analytics showed that the Swift-centric broadcast saw a 53% uptick in viewership by girls ages 12-17 from the season average over the first three games of the season, as well as a 24% bump among women 18-24 and a 34% increase for women over 35,” Billboard said.
Last week’s game between the Bears and Chiefs saw a 63% jump in viewership among women age 18 to 49,” CBS Sports said.
To accommodate for the increase in women watching the game, NBC “did everything it could to remind viewers that Swift was once again in the house,” Billboard said.
During their coverage of the game, they threw to Swift and her friends in the family skybox 17 times. They also had a special Taylor promo, The Voice host Carson Daly explaining how football works to Swifties at the beginning of the game and a reference to “Cornelia Street.”
While I think this is a bit excessive given what football is actually about, I can’t say I blame them for wanting to interest the new viewers.
At the end of the day, sports are something that should bond people together, and if Swift is what gets fans into the game, I’ll take it. I just hope they stick around after the relationship buzz dies down.