How Taylor Swift and the NFL Complete One Another
livemint.comThe NFL needs more women to complete its takeover of the American sports landscape. There is plenty of room for more men in Taylor Swift’s legion of “Swifties" as she continues her quest for total pop-culture supremacy. Now it seems that Swift and the NFL have stumbled upon the perfect solution to fill the gaps in each other’s audiences: They have joined forces.
And the ability of these two behemoths to combine their largely divergent fandoms could help sustain the long-term dominance of both enterprises. With the “Eras Tour" concert film set to be released in theaters next week, it’s clear that Swift has officially entered her NFL era. She has attended the Kansas City Chiefs’ last two games, amid speculation that she’s romantically involved with star tight end Travis Kelce.
On Sunday, Swift brought along a squad of other celebrities—including the actors Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Hugh Jackman—to see the Chiefs narrowly escape with a win over the New York Jets. (The ultimate sign of Swift’s power might be that she convinced these A-listers to willingly spend an evening in New Jersey.) Swift’s presence at NFL stadiums watching football—instead of performing “Cruel Summer" and “Anti-Hero" for 70,000 fans in friendship bracelets—has brought a surprise opportunity for the league to court a demographic it has long coveted: young women. Viewership across NBC’s platforms among girls aged 12-17 rose 53% from the average of the previous three weeks of “Sunday Night Football," according to the network.
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