EAmong the modern pop army, Taylor Swift fans stand out for their devotion to their idol. But over the past year, they've outdone themselves, flocking to stadiums for Hellas' tours, movie theaters for concert films, and often both, multiple times. Now, the Swifties are following their new boyfriend Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, to the NFL.
Since their romance last summer, Swift has become a fixture at Chiefs games this season, often seen in the box with Kelce's family and drawing fans to the field in droves. Speculation about their relationship is currently at an all-time high, with talk of him proposing at Sunday's Super Bowl, when the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will play. Swift plans to fly in from Tokyo to attend.
Swift's relationship with Kelsea unfolded in public, despite her previous relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn being more private. Kelce, who attended Swift's Kansas City show in July, tried unsuccessfully to give her his number backstage and on her podcast said she was “throwing the ball in her court.” he joked. Swift caught the wind. In October, a few weeks after Swift attended her first Chiefs game, Kelce reportedly purchased a $6 million mansion in a gated community in Missouri for more privacy. A month later, he went to see Swift perform in Buenos Aires, where she modified Karma's lyrics to shout out her own “Man from the Chiefs.” She was then filmed running off stage and into his arms.
We've seen more of Swift in the past six months with Kelsey than in the six years with Alwyn. And she and Kelsey became one of the most famous couples in the United States, if not the world.
The attention to them extends far beyond their respective fan bases, highlighting our enduring obsession with romance and celebrity couples. But in this age of 24/7 social media surveillance, many people have lost their shine or gone into hiding. Uber's highly publicized Super Bowl commercials, such as one that reunited Friends stars Ross and Rachel, show how companies have had to rely on past relationships.
Like Posh and Bex, another one of the last great celebrity love stories, Swift and Kelce are overachieving homecoming queens (or, as Swift prefers her own style, cat-lovers in the bleachers). It evokes instantly recognizable stories of football and football. A hero with a heart of gold.
Kelce's old tweets include feeding squirrels and MGMT's electric feel. Fans know that Swift is also a total idiot. She's the recipient of Time magazine's Person of the Year award, and she's probably the only one to answer seriously and unashamedly about Harry Potter.
Even as a couple, Swift and Kelsey are easy to root for. Both are 34 years old (a respectable age), at the top of their respective games, and, of course, traditionally attractive and white. With the global sports and entertainment industry behind it, the momentum seems unstoppable. It's perhaps no surprise that some Trump supporters claim the romance is political propaganda designed to help Biden (who Swift endorsed in 2020) win, according to the New York Times. calls it “the stupidest conspiracy theory imaginable.”
According to gossip columnist Hunter Harris, it's a surprisingly perfect union. “It feels like there's a flaw in the matrix that a woman who just won Album of the Year at the Grammys is dating a man who's about to win the Super Bowl. It's a 1 in a trillion chance. .”
At least their fans are buying it – and quite literally. In terms of brand awareness, Swift's presence at the match has boosted Chiefs' profile to a reach worth $331m (£260m), with sponsorships also on the rise, according to social media posts and reports. % increase.
Meanwhile, the number of young women watching the NFL this season has skyrocketed, with an estimated 2 million viewers per Chiefs game. The San Francisco Chronicle claims that Swift accomplished the seemingly impossible and “made the NFL even bigger.”
The fact that the pop star is usually talked about in corporate, if not national, terms is prime evidence of the Taylor Swift effect. Last November, she (along with Beyoncé) was credited with boosting U.S. GDP by an unexpected 5%. Eras' tour is already the biggest in history, grossing $1 billion with nearly a year left.
Kelsey was similarly ambitious, signing with a management firm while in college with the goal of becoming “as famous as The Rock.” I can see why, says Harris. “He is charismatic and gifted with oratory.” His new relationships helped accelerate his stardom, with offers for television appearances and film scripts. At one point, Kelce was said to be gaining 124,000 new followers on X every time Swift attended his match.
Swift Inc., which has 95 million followers to Kelce's 1.2 million, may not be able to get much bigger, but she also sees benefits from the merger. This erased his brief affair with controversial singer Matty Healy in 1975, which left many fans feeling betrayed. And after her long privacy, she cemented her position as the most famous woman in the world. In fact, an unmistakable leak to the press from a source “close to Swift” claiming that Alwyn is threatened by her own success suggests that she too is tired of keeping a low profile. This suggests that it may have been.
At the end of her stellar years, Swift's romance repositioned her in the public consciousness from an all-conquering (even obnoxiously capitalist) queen of pop to a young woman in love.
In 2022, Swift came under fire for contributing to global carbon emissions with her frequent private jet trips. Until Tuesday, when she, along with Elon Musk, threatened legal action against a college girl who advertised the jet, which she used to fly to watch her boyfriend win the Super Bowl, headlines focused on It was a matter of whether we would make it in time.
Despite all the publicity, Harris suspects the relationship is just a sham. It may have started that way, but “Taylor Swift is already an intergalactic celebrity without Travis Kelce,” she says. “If anything, this seems like the quickest way for her to reach supersaturation.”
Whatever the distinction between business and leisure, “Tavis” is an American romance in many ways. It's marketable, a little too sweet, and comes in generous portions. It speaks to a time when romance, let alone fairy tales, is sorely lacking, and it speaks to how we fill our plates and want more. As Swift sang, this is a love story – just say yes.