Brentaro Yamane | Multimedia Editor
The Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years, a feat overshadowed by the fact that Taylor Swift is dating the team’s star tight end Travis Kelce. Now the question is not “will the Chiefs win?” it’s “will Taylor’s man take it home?”
Swift’s boyfriend making it to the Super Bowl might be the best thing to happen to the NFL and the Chiefs. According to online company Not Common, Swift is ranked the 15th most popular celebrity on Instagram with 280 million followers, more than the NFL’s 29.4 million. Any content she posts about the Chiefs serves as free advertising for the team and their upcoming game.
If the Chiefs did not make the Super Bowl, the event would not be as entertaining to non-fans. There are people that do not like Swift because of her beliefs, her music or because of how much positive press she receives. So, the idea that more people are going to watch the game in hopes to see her team lose is probably going to happen.
Since NFL regular season games started to be tracked in 1995, this year’s regular season averaged 17.9 million viewers, which was the second most ever recorded, according to Fortune, and thanks to Swift getting more women and her fans to watch football, it isn’t that surprising.
In a regular season game between the Chiefs and the New York Jets, 22 million viewers watched that Sunday night football game as 2 million more female viewers between the ages of 18-24 and over 35 tuned in according to NBC. The Chiefs – Jets game was played during Week 4 and that game was up 22% over the Week 4 Sunday night game played in 2022.
Back in October, the NFL saw more than 200 million video views related to Kelce, Swift and NFL content. All those views were based on regular season games. With the biggest game of the year about to be played, all those views and the amount of content is bound to increase.
During the NFL Divisional round, the Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills was the most-watched game out of all four games played in that round with 50.39 million viewers and that game was played on a Sunday night, in which most people settle down and get ready to go to work or school the next day compared to the second most-watched game during that round was the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers game that was played on Saturday with only 37.54 million viewers.
Last year, the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles had 112.7 million viewers, which was the third-most watched Super Bowl game in history. The most-watched Super Bowl ever was XLIX when 114.4 million viewers tuned in, according to ShowBuzzDaily.
Out of the 60 musical performances that Swift held between 2022 and 2023, an average of 72,000 people attended each one. If she attends the Super Bowl, many people may watch just to see her, provided she attends.
This year’s Super Bowl has the potential to be the most-watched game in NFL history. Along with the Swift factor, the Chiefs are also trying to build a dynasty looking to win their fourth championship while the 49ers are trying to win their first Super Bowl since 1995 and under quarterback Brock Purdy, who was selected as the last pick in the 2022 Draft.