In a world currently lacking an abundance of good news, Americans have been eagerly awaiting some good old-fashioned Hollywood gossip to take precedence at their dinner table conversations. Pop star Taylor Swift’s budding relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is just the type of distraction everyone desired.
Swift’s popularity reached new, unprecedented heights due to her worldwide Eras Tour and frequent re-releases of her world-renowned albums. Kelce’s career has also skyrocketed after helping lead the Chiefs to victory in the 2023 Super Bowl. However, with Swift’s history of dating actors and singers, her relationship with a popular football player was certainly not on anyone’s 2023 predictions list.
The relationship first blossomed when Kelce attended Swift’s July 8 show at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. Kelce decided to partake in the beloved Eras Tour tradition of bringing homemade friendship bracelets to the concert, on which he wrote his number, hoping that it would find its way onto Swift’s wrist and into her phone. Unfortunately for Kelce, he was not able to deliver the bracelet or talk to Swift before her show began. However, he did not give up, as he talked about the Eras Tour highly on his podcast, New Heights, which drew Swift in and sparked conversation between the two. Kelce then invited the pop star to attend the Kansas City Chiefs game a few weeks later—an offer which, much to Kelce’s delight, Swift accepted. Her infamous attendance at this game marked the official announcement of the relationship to the public.
After Swift attended his football game, pictures of the two holding hands, attending dinners together, and driving off in Kelce’s car flooded social media. This reaction is not surprising, however, as fans and media tabloids constantly obsess over every one of Swift’s relationships. Yet, what is most interesting about this relationship is how the National Football League (NFL) has reacted to and been affected by this newfound romance.
When Swift made her second appearance in Arrowhead Stadium on Oct.1, over 27 million viewers joined her in watching the Chiefs play, making it the most-watched Sunday program since the Superbowl. Unsurprisingly, this game marked a spike in female viewership of Sunday football games by more than 35%. Since then, the NFL has started catering to their new audience, as they constantly pan to and reference Taylor Swift whenever she attends games. On top of that, they have made commercials highlighting the artist and her music and even changed their Instagram bio to reference Swift.
Kelce has also felt the effects of the popularity surrounding his relationship, as he continues to gain an extreme amount of new Instagram followers, jersey purchases with his number and name are skyrocketing more than 400%. Interestingly, Kelce has even bettered his playing as the numbers suggest that his yardage nearly doubles when Swift is in the stands.
Despite the benefits the NFL and Kelce have theoretically reaped from this relationship, critics view the popularity of this relationship as “too much.” Some NFL fans claim to turn off the game because of the excessive Swift coverage, and even Kelce himself has stated that the league is “overdoing” it. However, despite the attention, the happy couple constantly emphasizes that they are just “proud” of one another, and wish to support each other throughout their careers.
Ultimately, fans on both sides will have to wait and see if this “love story” will have a happy ending.
