December 6, 2023. This is the day the Singer-Songwriter, Taylor Swift, announced that she was dating an American Football Tight End for the Kansas City Chiefs (Chiefs), Travis Kelce. Swift mentioned that they started dating quickly after he talked about her in his podcast, New Heights, with his brother Jason Kelce. This quickly developed into a media firestorm, but why?
Swift is extremely popular, selling 4.35 million tickets to her recent tour in just over a year according to Variety. She launched her Eras Tour on November 18th, 2022 and her tickets range from $49-$499. Most shows sold out in less than 24 hours.
Swift can sing in a variety of genres, including indie folk, pop, and even country. She is also able to
play five different instruments as well as being a talented painter. Due to her continuous popularity, it has recently been brought to the media that she has made the National Football League and the Kansas City Chiefs 331.5 million dollars from her appearances on-screen (according to Voyager Times).
Kelce has his own fan base as well. His podcast consistently ranks number one in sports podcasts on multiple platforms in the nation. Kelce has also won the Superbowl two times in his National Football League (NFL) career. In Superbowl LVII, he defeated his older brother, who was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35.
He also became the first tight end to have four seasons straight of having 1,000 or more receiving yards. Kelce has starred in seven different commercials broadcasted on national television.
Their relationship seems to be the cause for female football viewers (specifically for the Chiefs) to skyrocket leaps and bounds compared to last season. If both so wildly successful, what is the reason that football fans are getting so upset about her being shown on screen?
From what pre-Swift NFL fans are posting about on social media, most of them are not upset because she is there to watch Kelce, but that the media puts her on a pedestal while she is there.
In truth, the fans just want to watch the game, not what is happening in the booth. Although other, angrier fans do not want her there at all. NFL watchers, even through their abhorrence of this relationship have only boosted its popularity further.
The two arguably most loyal fan bases have now found one common denominator. This has grown into one of the largest media firestorms, simply because of two people. With Swift selling out shows and Kelce’s football career, their diverse fan bases have combined to make one large media outburst.
