“I’m not going to ask you about your girlfriend. » Behind the desk, Travis Kelce laughs. “It will be a first,” he responds into the microphone to the journalist who started it. A crowd of journalists sat in front of him, on the lawn of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where he will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday with his Kansas City Chiefs franchise. And so far, their questions in this media slot have focused on one topic: his romantic relationship with Taylor Swift.
Since September 24 and the first appearance of the American singer, international star rewarded with a new Grammy Award for album of the year on Sunday February 4, in the stands to follow one of the regular season matches, the connection between the tight end of the Chiefs and the artist is shaking up the United States and its major sport. Which further boosts its popularity.
“It’s great that she’s there, it’s creating a buzz,” National Football League (NFL) boss Roger Goodell said on Monday. The Taylor Swift effect is positive. » And translates very concretely. The AFC Conference final between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs attracted more than 55 million viewers, an absolute record for this match leading to the Super Bowl.
Increased advertising exposure
The aura of the 34-year-old American, whose tour exceeded $1 billion in revenue in December, attracted some of her fans to the NFL. The latter recorded this season its highest female audience since the start of measuring this index, in 2000. And if her companion was already one of the main players of Kansas City, the sale of jerseys in her name exploded 400% after Taylor Swift’s first appearance in the stands. In all, the singer generated the equivalent of $331.5 million in advertising exposure for the NFL and the Chiefs, according to calculations from Apex Marketing Group reported by Front Office Sports.
“She brought a lot of new fans to our sport,” smiles Travis Kelce. It’s fun to see the Swifties (fans of the singer) coming to the Chiefs’ kingdom. » “It creates a new group of young fans, especially young women who have asked themselves: why is she going to see this match? Why is she interested in this sport,” said Roger Goodell.
“The NFL reigned supreme not only over sport, but over all American entertainment,” describes former NBC American football specialist Bob Costas. You’d think she couldn’t do better, but now she’s tapping into a new demographic. »
At the risk of upsetting some of the discipline’s purists, disturbed by the media noise surrounding each of Taylor Swift’s appearances in a stadium. “You are ruining football,” Ravens fans told him when he arrived at Baltimore Stadium at the end of January. ” I did not do anything ! », replied the young woman. “I just come to support Travis,” she already explained in December to Time Magazine, which named her personality of the year 2023. I don’t know if I’m being shown too much or if I’m pissing off a few dads, Brad and Chad (classic American first names). »
But beyond the complaints of a few enthusiasts, the exhibition of Taylor Swift is tense in an extremely politically divided country which elects its president at the end of the year. In 2020, the singer supported Joe Biden in the race for the White House, accusing the still head of the United States of having “fanned the flames of white supremacism and racism throughout his mandate”. In recent weeks, the star has been the target of conspiracy theories surrounding her relationship.
Trump supporters denounce a “scripted” relationship
“I wonder who will win the Super Bowl next month,” said Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate for the White House before rallying behind Donald Trump in the 2024 primary. And I wonder if a major announcement of support for a presidential candidate, coming from an artificially hyped couple, is not preparing for this fall. » “EVERYONE knows that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a hoax and that the Super Bowl is rigged,” raged pro-Trump commentator Mike Crispi.
“I could never have written that,” laughed Roger Goodell, when asked about the scriptwriting of this couple. In the meantime, articles are multiplying on what has become THE central question of this Super Bowl for the general public: will Taylor Swift be able to perform on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas while she gives a concert on Saturday in Tokyo? A priori yes, if his jet leaves on time and finds a slot to land at one of the overloaded airports this weekend in Nevada. She would then logically have time to reach the stadium. And give even greater scale to the sporting event of the year in the United States.