Whether you’re a fan of football or music, I’m sure you have heard about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship. For the NFL, this new figure has brought plenty of attention, and the media team cannot get enough.
On October 1st, the Chiefs traveled to Soldier Field where they managed to shine victorious in a 41-10 victory over the Bears. While the win was big for the team, the real stardom came from the appearance of 12-time Grammy Award Winner Taylor Swift. With rumors slowly spreading around social media, Taylor came out to support Travis and make things somewhat official. However, even if you didn’t watch the game, you would’ve seen a post (or 100) about the situation on social media.
Seeing Taylor more than seeing the actual game is something that needs to stop. We want football. Not some other popular figure.
While streaming the game, the NFL accumulated 24.3 million viewers alone. On average, the NFL has about 16 million viewers per game, so this large jump in viewership is surely valued by the NFL. Once they saw how much publicity they could bring in by relating one of the most famous music artists ever to their sport, they ran with it. Media outlets went crazy, broadcasts could only talk about one thing, and custom jerseys were now being made with Taylor’s name and #89 for her birth year and album.
While the branding has brought both parties plenty of revenue, for just the average NFL fan, Travis and Taylor’s relationship has been shown enough. It makes sense to want to bring in the connection between two very famous people, but at what point is the NFL overdoing it. According to The Athletic, Taylor was shown 17 times in the same football game. It’s become popular over the years to show off the famous people who attend these professional games, but 17 times for one single game is just too much. At this point, you’re not watching the game, but instead just her reaction to it.
Even All-Pro Tight End Rob Gronkowski came out and said he believes that the NFL is doing too much. On Kay Adams show, Up and Adams Show, Gronk said, “We want more football, yes it’s fine that you show her, but not every single play.”
The NFL needs to stop promoting Taylor for the good of us all. Ticket IQ said that the price for a Chief’s ticket had risen 43% since Taylor’s promotion. For just a normal fan, the increase of ticket price comes at no actual benefit. All that has happened is that the average fan has had to pay more money for the same experience. Seeing Taylor more than seeing the actual game is something that needs to stop. We want football. Not some other popular figure.
