Taylor Swift.
We all know her, and many of us love her. Swift has impacted the music industry positively in many ways throughout her career as America’s sweetheart singer-songwriter, and most recently, the NFL has highlighted Swift at every game she’s attended simply for supporting her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Although many Americans adore her, do they really want to see her multiple times throughout a football game? I would say, yes! I believe she has been beneficial for the NFL and has positively impacted the game because she has resulted in viewer increase and has helped the NFL reach a whole new fan base.
To me, football is seen as a very masculine sport that is often associated with being physically strong and tough. With Swift being featured in Kansas City Chiefs games, a new predominantly female fanbase of “Swifties” are now tuning in on TV or attending these games.
Dean Beyer, junior communication student, said, “Taylor Swift is getting the NFL more viewers. Historically, the NFL has been a brand heavily associated with hyper masculine ideologies and standards, and therefore most of their fans are men of all ages. With the introduction of Taylor Swift, a larger than life pop star who is unapologetically hyper feminine, a door has been opened that now allows women to access a world that was previously very separated from their own. Of course, prior, women were always free to watch whatever they wanted, but now there is a bit more incentive.”
In contrast, some fans see Swift as a distraction from football and take away from the games themselves. However, Swift doesn’t appear to be causing viewership to drop; actually, it’s the complete opposite. CNN Entertainment stated, “Overall, female viewership for the 2023 regular season was up 9% from last year.” That means the NFL is not only reaching a new fan base, but is also making money at the same time.
It’s not like these screenings of Swift are for a very long time when they happen, so I don’t really see Swift as a distraction. Julia Buck, sophomore psychology student, said, “I think Taylor Swift is good for publicity when she’s featured in a game. I don’t think she’s a distraction unless you allow her to be one. She barely has any screen-time compared to the whole game. She is maybe seen two or three times.”
Benjamin Hoffman, senior editor of “The New York Times” for the Culture and Lifestyle sections found, “Ms. Swift [is] typically onscreen for less than 25 seconds over the course of broadcasts that run longer than three hours, with her name rarely being mentioned.” Therefore, I do not think Swift is bad for the NFL as she is not taking anything away from the game.
At the end of the day, Swift is simply going to these football games to support her boyfriend. I think it’s nice to see a couple like Swift and Kelce, two celebrities that seem so real in comparison to many fake celebrity relationships. Swift is good for the NFL because many females and fans in general are now tuning in to these games to see Swift, and now many of them are watching the entirety of the Kansas City Chiefs games in hopes of the camera highlighting Swift. I see Swift and Kelce as a door-opening opportunity for both the sport and music industries in the future.
