It’s hard to deny the impact Taylor Swift has had on the NFL and Travis Kelce since she started dating him. According to studies, 57% of Kansas City Chiefs fans are female. The recent podcast with Swift and Kelce drew a record-setting 1.3 million concurrent viewers and now has 19 million views and counting. Kelce’s jersey sales are also up 400%, and Market Watch reports that Swift’s connection to the NFL has added $122 million in brand value.
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It doesn’t stop here. Swift’s presence at Chiefs games alone has generated $366 million in brand value for the team. After the AFC Championship, the NFL’s overall value jumped by another $634 million. The league has also seen a 63% increase in female viewership.
You have to admit, it’s fascinating how much of an effect one person can have on an entire sport. Former NFL wideout Cris Carter doesn’t see it that way, though, mainly because he says he’s witnessed something similar before.
“I can’t feel surprised because I mean, sports has been doing this for a long time,” Carter said when asked about Taylor Swift’s impact on the NFL.
“Look at Jay-Z and Beyonce, not only their ownership of teams, but their effect on the overall business,” Carte added.
In 2004, Jay-Z was one of the biggest musical artists in the world. He purchased a small stake in the New Jersey Nets and helped facilitate their move to Brooklyn by 2012. He also played a key role in rebranding the team, introducing a new logo, jerseys, and a court. All the while, he was dating, and eventually married, one of the other biggest musicians in the world, Beyoncé.
It was a solid and fitting example for Carter to bring up. After all, fans loved Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s relationship because they seemed to genuinely love each other, something Carter notices with Swift and Kelce as well.
“I’m all for it, it is very organic, because I know Travis. Travis trains here. Him and Taylor were living here in Royal Palm during the summer… I know Travis and her have a real relationship. This is not an arranged situation,” Carter said.
The Hall of Famer added that because of Swift’s commitment to the relationship, she feels she has to show up to the games. It’s not a spectacle … it’s simply her way of supporting her boyfriend.
He then pointed out the Chiefs’ geographical location and how it has also helped fuel the Swift effect.
“I do believe that Kansas City, where they’re based in the Midwest, I think, her overall fanbase. I think Patrick Mahomes, you know, being the quarterback. Like, it’d be different if they were Jacksonville,” Carter argued.
Swift started her career as a country singer, so it makes sense that her original fanbase came from the Midwest. Over time, she evolved into a pop singer-songwriter, a genre that reaches just about everyone. Now, she has a loyal base of “Swifties” across the country, which has helped grow the game of football.
“The Chiefs talk about their fan base is increased; now the females are 57%. In the National Football League, I heard that women are 51%,” Carter stated. “I think it might be a combination of not only viewing but purchasing power, because they’re typically buying the jerseys for the husband.”
Who knows what the specific reason for the spike in engagement has been? It could be purchasing power. But we do know it has something to do with Swift. She’s managed to bring a demographic into a sport they once didn’t care about, and the NFL, Kelce, and Swift are all benefiting from it.
