The NFL (And Travis Kelce) Is Benefitting From “The Taylor Swift Effect”

The NFL is, by a wide margin, the most popular sport in the United States. Despite their marketing and ratings prowess, the league continues its efforts of expanding their fanbase. This includes reaching out to Latinos (where football is another sport) and expanding globally (this season the NFL will be playing five games in England and Germany.) Also, having Amazon Prime Video stream Thursday Night Football games attracts a younger more digital savvy audience. Perhaps, another marketing strategy should be having singer-songwriting superstar Taylor Swift in attendance at more games. Swift was seen at the last two Kansas City Chiefs games, amplifying viewer interest into a social event with her legion of fans known as “Swifties”.

There had been rumors swirling that Taylor Swift had been seeing Kansas City Chiefs eight-time all-pro tight end Travis Kelce. The widespread speculation was confirmed on September 24, when the 12-time Grammy Award winner was seen at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium alongside Kelce’s mother. Throughout the game, Fox, which televised the contest, repeatedly showed Swift cheering in a luxury suite. Taylor Swift’s appearance came during a break of her blockbuster concert tour called the Eras Tour. During the tour Swift had performed at Arrowhead Stadium on July 7-8.

The late Sunday afternoon game, branded as “America’s Game of the Week”, reported the game had averaged 24.3 million viewers, the most watched television program of the week. Despite the strong audience, the viewing was off by 8% compared to the corresponding game last season (a marquee matchup between quarterbacks Tom Brady of Tampa Bay and Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay). Last season, “America’s Game of the Week” averaged 24.1 million viewers, making it the most watched TV program for the 14^th straight year.

One reason for the ratings falloff was the game was lopsided, with Kansas City leading the Chicago Bears 34-0 at halftime, before coasting to a 41-10 victory. In the game Kelce also scored a touchdown. In a postgame interview, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Jr., after learning Swift was in attendance, made sure Kelce would score.

Swift’s appearance also had a halo effect for Kelce and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. For example;

· Fanatics reported a 400% increase in Kelce’s jersey sales which put him in the top 5 players in the NFL.

· Kelce’s podcast with his brother Jason (another NFL player), called New Heights, ranked first on Apple’s
AAPL
charts.

· Kelce added 383,000 new followers on his Instagram account.

· Stubhub reported a threefold increase in Chiefs ticket searches.

· The Chiefs sold more tickets in a single season since the start of 2023 season.

The following week Swift was in attendance when Kansas City played the New York Jets in New Jersey’s Meadowlands on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. In the game Kansas City defeated the Jets 23-10. When Front Office Sports reported Swift would be in attendance her fans hoping to get a glimpse of the multiplatinum singer spiked, TickPick reported online ticket prices soared from $83 to $119, a 40% increase. The last time Swift was at the Meadowlands was last May, during her Eras Tour, when she broke attendance records over three days.

Instead of sitting with Kelce’s mother, for the Meadowlands game, Swift came to the game accompanied by such celebrities as Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Sophie Tucker and High Jackman among others.

As expected, the game was a hit with NBC, which repeatedly showed Swift throughout the game, averaging 27 million viewers on NBC and digital platforms. This was the second most watched NFL game of the season, following the NFL Kick-off Classic last month (27.5 million). Moreover, when compared to the season average, Sunday Night Football ratings among female teens (age 12-to-17) grew by 53%, the audience among women age 18-to-24 increased 24% while women age 35+ rose 34%.

The audience delivery was also 22% higher than the corresponding game last season (Kansas City vs. Tampa Bay). Sunday Night Football has been the highest rated primetime program on television over the past 12 years. Last season Sunday Night Football averaged 19.9 million viewers including digital platforms.

Next Sunday Kansas City will play a road game against the Minnesota Vikings. Although there has been no announcement that Swift will be attending, ticket sales have also been spiking for that game.

Of note, the first game Swift attended was also the most watched program with females including Woman 18-49 in which Roku TV reported ratings growth of 63%. Females are another group the NFL has been reaching out to. According to a survey conducted last April and reported by Statistica, 24% of the females called themselves avid fans of the NFL, with 42% responding they were not fans at all. By comparison, 51% of males considered themselves avid fans of the NFL with 19% calling themselves not a fan at all.

Also, as the NFL audience gets older, “Swifties” tend to be younger. A survey from Morning Consult, released earlier this year, found 45% of avid Swift fans are millennials between the ages of 27 and 42 while another 11% are “Gen Z”, under the age of 26. By comparison, last year the median age of the NFL television audience was 54 and aging. (On Amazon
AMZN
the median age was 47.)

Swift’s Eras Tour had been generating $13 million in ticket sales each night and is expected to be the highest-grossing concert tour of all time generating billions of dollars. Forbes reported Swift had earned $92 million. The Eras Tour is expected to earn Swift hundreds of millions of dollars. Swift’s net worth is an estimated $740 million.

Looking ahead, the concert film Taylor Swift: The Era Tour will be released in 100+ countries on October 13. Industry analysts project the opening weekend will generate over $100 million in box office. During its Sunday Night Football several promos for the movie aired. Swift’s global concert tour resumes on November 9 in Argentina (a bye week for the Kansas City Chiefs). Next year, the Eras Tour continues with tour dates in Europe, Asia and Australia, before returning to North America in the fall.

By comparison, Sportrac reports Travis Kelce, a future Hall of Famer, will earn $12.3 million playing in the NFL this season. Over his 11-year NFL career Kelce has earned over $77 million in salary. Another income source for Kelce is product endorsements. Kelce has been a spokesperson for Bud Light, Pfizer
PFE
Covid-19 vaccines, DirecTV, Sleep Number
SNBR
, Experian, McDonalds and co-stars in a State Farm commercial with teammate Mahomes. Forbes reports Kelce’s product endorsements generate an additional $3 million. Kelce has an estimated net worth of $40 million.

After his playing days are over Kelce has expressed an interest in the entertainment industry. Besides his podcast, back in 2016, Kelce was the star of a dating competition show on E! called Catching Kelce. In the reality program Kelce seeks a companion from one of 50 females representing 50 states. Last March 4 Kelce hosted Saturday Night Live.

Whether it’s long-term or not, Kelce’s relationship with Swift will only boost media presence. In a radio interview Bill Belichick, the longtime head coach of the New England Patriots quipped, “Well, I would say that Travis Kelce has had a lot of big catches in his career. This would be the biggest.”