New Chief fans were born when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were seen officially together at the Chiefs versus Chicago Bears game on September 24, 2023.
Swift was seen emphatically cheering on Kelce from his box seats with his family. Later she was seen leaving with Kelce in a “getaway car,” referenced by Kelce as a nod to Swift’s famous song. The buzz exploded from there. Kelce has been trying to date Swift ever since July, when he tried to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it at her concert. Kelce revealed that this did not work out, though he obviously had later success.
Not only did Kelce have success in dating Swift, attention turned to the spike in audience television viewership of the Kansas City Chiefs games in hopes of Swift attending. The audience at the game were not all there just to see the game. A lot of “Swifties” (Swift’s fans) came hoping to get a glimpse of her. Swift also brought some of her celebrity friends to the game including Sophie Turner, Blake Lively, Ryan Renolds and Hugh Jackman. They were all seen cheering on Kelce from his box seats. The watch rate of the Chiefs versus Jets game on October 1 was about twenty-seven million viewers. NBC Sports reports this as the most watched Sunday programming since Super Bowl LVII.
Kelce NFL National Football League (NFL) merch has also increased almost 400% ever since Swift’s appearances with Kelce. This is making him one the the top-selling jerseys in the NFL. Also, Kelce’s instagram followers are spiking each week, gaining more followers than he did for the Super Bowl. Kelce recognizes that most of the attention is now being focused on him and Swift, but he wants to keep his relationship with Swift separate from football.
Although his name has exploded in social media and created a whole new fan base of Swifties, this was not the only relationship Kelce has been famous for. He and his brother, Jason Kelce, center for the Philadelphia Eagles, have always captured the interest of fans with their close family ties, especially when competing against each other in games. Both Chiefs fans and “Swifties” will continue to follow this celebrity couple.
Image courtesy of Flickr.
