On Sunday, Feb. 11, the Kansas City Chiefs pulled a major comeback to defeat the San Francisco 49ers for the 58th annual Super Bowl title. While much of the focus was on the game, it was no surprise that international popstar Taylor Swift garnered a great deal of attention as well.
Swift has been a hot topic for NFL fans this season after she started dating Kansas City Chief tight end Travis Kelce. Since Sept. 24, Swift has attended all the regular season home games despite her busy schedule and massively popular Eras Tour. The broadcasting team took advantage of her stardom, showing the popstar celebrating with the Kelce family in their stadium suite consistently throughout the season.
The constant footage frustrated football fans,who thought the NFL was using Swift’s stardom to boost their ratings, not because it was important to the game. “The NFL is milking their relationship for money,” said avid football fan, Cameron Hoshyarshar.
Fans are not wrong about the monetary value Swift brings to the NFL, and its no secret that the organization profits off of her image. According to CBS, Taylor Swift generated the NFL 330 million dollars in revenue throughout the season. The NFL even made a compilation video of various clips of her at the game, titled“The Best of Taylor” and posted it on YouTube.
The celebrity video was viewed nearly 1 million times in just 10 hours, and 2 million within 2 days of its posting. “Obviously this game had a different approach to it due to Taylor Swift and her impact,” said Loyola Marymount University student, Landen Smith. “I haven’t noticed anything like this in previous games.”
Still, some fans aren’t phased by the very public relationship. “I believe it contributed due to the fact that the NFL has profited a ton of money due to her being shown and involved with Travis Kelce,” said Division I football player Jaylan Wesley who plays for Lindenwood University. “I do not think the broadcast’s focus on her affected the viewers’ super bowl experience.”
