The line between the NFL and celebrity drama blurred over the last two weeks. News of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s “romance” made “Sparks Fly, ” and caused the mass media to spiral into a frenzy.
News outlets are soaking up the likes and clicks of this story, while the Swift-Kelce duo live the lavish life of love… or a PR stunt; it’s hard to tell if this so-called “romance” is real or not, though the profit definitely is. Since the news broke of their “relationship”, Kelce’s jersey sales have increased 400%. Not only this, but since Swift’s appearance, Chiefs game ticket sales rose 175%.
The financial benefit to this relationship is apparent.
Profit doesn’t necessarily mean the Kelce-Swift relationship is fake. Rumors of their pairing started a couple weeks before Swift was spotted at a Chiefs game. Many fans doubted the rumors, stating people were making it up for attention. These people fell silent when Swift arrived at Kelce’s game front and center to fill the “Blank Space” next to the tight end’s mom.
During the game’s broadcast, the camera frequently panned to Swift. Swifties everywhere tuned in, waiting to see their favorite singer pop up on screen, while Kelce supporters watched with delight as he made it into the endzone to catch a pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I heard she was in the house,” Mahomes said in a postgame interview. “I felt a little bit of pressure, so I knew I had to get it to Trav. I think he wanted to get in the end zone just as much as the Swifties wanted him to.”
Whether it’s real or not, the couple has definitely played into the new attention. Kelce was seen leaving the game in a suit designed to represent one of Swift’s most successful albums, “1989.” This being the first time they were seen together in public, a whole suit dedicated to Swift was a bold move by Kelce. It’s hard to comment on what life as a celebrity is like, but for a brewing romance, immediately throwing the relationship at hungry fans probably won’t give it the best environment to thrive.
Swift is no stranger to public breakups. With most of Swift’s relationships being very public, her fans do not take her splits lightly. Having knowledge of how quick Swifties are to turn on the artist’s ex-lovers with every new song, Kelce and his managers would most likely opt against this relationship being so public so fast. Seeing how rapidly Swift brought attention to the Chiefs and the tight end, a risk to Kelce’s “Reputation” could be a real threat.
Nevertheless, Swift was spotted again at the recent Jets-Chiefs game on Sunday, Oct 1. Her appearances haven’t been hard to miss, given that the official ESPN Instagram account made roughly 28 posts (and counting) regarding the couple. News outlets were swift to intercept this story and broadcast it as much as possible.
While this is a fair marketing strategy to engage different audiences, it’s clearly creating “Bad Blood” between football fans and the NFL. Fans on the ESPN Instagram have been calling this story excessive and overcovered, as well as saying things like, “we don’t care,” and that producers are milking it. Even in the recent Giants-Seahawks game, Giants fans were seen booing when a Taylor Swift add appeared on screen.
Travis Kelce is beginning to comment on the news.
“They are overdoing it a little bit. …Especially my situation,” Kelce stated on New Heights Show, a podcast run by the tight end and his brother.
Are these reactions evidence of the NFL caring more about money than their fans? With the 28 Taylor Swift posts, there were exactly three about the Dolphins’ incredible success. Outscoring the Broncos 70-20, the Dolphins were one score away from making history until Mike McDaniel showed them mercy. In most circumstances, this would be the most talked about event of the week, or even month. However, Taylor Swift became “the 1” that stole this spot. ESPN is meant to post about important events in sports to keep their fans updated and happy, however this disparity in the number of posts can be a reason as to why NFL fans are enraged.
Marketing aside, if this relationship goes south, Travis Kelce is going to need a “Getaway Car” to escape vengeful Taylor Swift fans.
