NFL fans are outraged about the coverage of Taylor Swift at games and online. Dating rumors about the pop superstar and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce began circulating in September, 2023. Kelce attempted to give Taylor his number during a stop on the Eras Tour and the rest was history. Since September, Swift has attended 12 Chiefs games, each getting extensive media coverage. All the Chads, Brads, and dads are offended by the “Swiftie takeover” and many NFL fans have started rooting against the Chiefs despite Swift being named Time Person of the Year.
Swift, who recently won two Grammys, has been a hot topic, especially surrounding her economic impact on the Eras Tour. Ever since the start of her career in 2006, she has proved to be a relevant, timeless artist of the past two decades. When Swift’s relationship with Kelce began, it broke the Internet, and many Swifties gained an interest in the NFL and views of the Kansas City Chiefs games rose as Swift began attending. According to NPR, “the league had its highest regular-season viewership among women since it began tracking in 2000.” However, this support was not received well by NFL fans as there have been negative media being spread about the singer/songwriter since.
Swift has brought engagement to the NFL and some fans have responded to Swift being a topic of the league by spreading explicit ai generated images of Swift at games. On Jan. 6, images were spread on 4chan and X, and searches of Taylor Swift had to be blocked to stop the spread on X. Swift attends games to support her man and for some reason, it’s everyone’s problem. Why can’t we let women be happy? Swift did not ask for this coverage; the NFL is the one profiting from her likeness.
Does her presence elicit this much hate? Stella Chen, a junior, said, “I think it’s really stupid. She’s only benefiting it [the NFL], and a lot more people are watching the games to see her there. So it’s not harming it at all and seeing Taylor Swift on screen for two seconds during an entire football game is nothing. She only brings in more money for the NFL, and she doesn’t distract from the game.”
It seems that NFL fans are uncomfortable with the newly found engagement due to Swift and Kelce’s relationship. Bruin Scheible, a sophomore said, “I can’t wait for the drama to be over when Kelce retires. I see her everywhere, and it’s a dominating media source. She brings in more viewers and that’s why they show her so much. Fans that have been watching for a while don’t like her presence, but she brings a lot more viewers.”
Additionally there are some political undertones to the reaction of NFL fans. Kelce’s endorsement of the Pfizer vaccine was not received well by fans and paired with Swift who endorsed Biden in the 2020 election…well, let’s just say conservative NFL fans are not happy. Suddenly, Fox News hosts have been commenting on Swift’s views on politics, saying that celebrities should stay out of politics, although hosts have invited many conservative celebrities to speak on the network, including Jim Caviezal, Gene Simmons, and Kid Rock. Many fans of the Chiefs who tend to view right-leaning networks like Fox are enraged by the presence of Swift due to her political beliefs.
NFL fans do not seem to like including Taylor Swift on the screen. However, it is important to recognize that Swift, who has no choice to be shown, is an incredibly talented and successful artist and it is inevitable that she would receive media coverage at Chiefs games. The real issue for fans is that a traditionally male-dominated sport has to share its space with a powerful woman. This begs the question: does Taylor Swift’s success make men uncomfortable? The fans’ negative responses lead us to believe that the answer to this question is yes.