On Thursday night, nearly 14 million Americans tuned in to Chiefs-Broncos, a football game with a foregone conclusion.
One fan not contributing to the Nielsen rating but chiefly responsible for it was at Arrowhead Stadium, sitting in a private suite for the third time in four weeks.
Clad in Kansas City gear, Taylor Swift was cheering on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, sharing the space with Kelce’s parents, Ed and Donna, and Brittany Mahomes, wife of star quarterback Patrick. At one point, Swift and Mahomes were rocking to “Dancing Queen.”
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Two nights later, NBC’s Saturday Night Live made its season debut.
The first skit was about the apparent burgeoning romance between Kelce and Swift, with the future first-ballot Hall of Famer making a cameo appearance at the end. This isn’t new ground for Kelce, who hosted the show in the aftermath of Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII victory over the Eagles in February.
Later, Swift surprisingly appeared to introduce Ice Spice for her second musical performance.
Six games into their title defense, the Chiefs are no longer defined by their greatness.
Instead, they’ve become a pop culture phenomenon unlike anything American sports have seen in decades.
In all three of Kansas City’s games with Swift in attendance, the ratings have been staggering, largely because young girls and women are tuning in at a much higher rate.
And while Swift is the clear reason for the bump, the 5–1 Chiefs aren’t hurting matters.
Going into the season, Kansas City was scheduled for only one Sunday early window matchup all year, coming in Week 2 against the Jaguars. The Chiefs are a constant in prime time, both because of their greatness and the star power that accompanies them, boasting perhaps the two most recognizable names in the sport with Kelce and Mahomes.
Currently, Kelce is representing Pfizer, Experian, State Farm, DirecTV, Campbell’s Chunky Soup and Bud Light with commercial campaigns. He’s also a cohost alongside older brother and Eagles All-Pro center Jason, on the New Heights podcast, which ranks third among all podcasts in the United States, and first in the sports category.
On Instagram, New Heights is approaching 1.7 million followers, while the show has crossed the one million threshold for subscribers on YouTube in only its second season.
Beyond Kelce, Mahomes has TV spots with Subway and State Farm, which include appearances by Kelce, coach Andy Reid and former backup quarterback Chad Henne. Chris Jones also got into a DirecTV spot, working alongside the famous tight end.
In recent decades, the NFL has seen its share of gridiron greatness. The Patriots won six Super Bowls and made 10 appearances from 2001 to ’18, led by arguably the greatest player ever in quarterback Tom Brady.
Yet, New England’s greatness rarely translated to off-field buzz, largely due to coach Bill Belichick’s promoting a culture of minimal outside noise. In Kansas City, Reid is the opposite, willing to be involved in commercials while also giving his players free rein to revel in their celebrity outside the game.
The last time an NFL team was this popular was the 1985 Bears.
Chicago was 15–1 and must-see TV, whether it was stars such as running back Walter Payton, or a lovable, rotund rookie in William Perry nicknamed “The Fridge.” The Bears rolled to a Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, and the endorsements both local and national poured in.
However, Chicago’s fame was short-lived. That edition of the Bears never went back to the Super Bowl and reached an NFC championship game once more, losing to the 49ers in 1988.
These Chiefs have the staying power because they’re already an established power, winning two Super Bowls and appearing in three of the past four.
At this juncture, the last time any U.S. sports team saw this kind of attention was the 1990s Bulls of the NBA, with Michael Jordan’s every move captivating the nation.
While Mahomes has more rings to win before he’s Jordan, the same aura applies. He’s the generational talent of generational talents with a cartoonish stat line and penchant for the absurd. To not watch is to risk missing out on the next all-time highlight.
For the NFL, what’s happening with both Swift and the Chiefs is new ground in the booming age of multimedia platforms.
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While it’s not uncommon to see stars from movies and music sitting courtside at NBA games, it’s rare to see celebrities being foisted on our screens during a football game. Yet with the Chiefs, guessing who will be in the building—ranging from Swift to others, including Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds—is part of the buildup.
And provided the Swift-Kelce dynamic continues, you can bet NBC will consider flexing Kansas City into Sunday Night Football whenever given the opportunity.
As the games roll on, the Chiefs will only play more important games as the standings crystallize, all while Swift embarks on the international leg of her unfathomably popular Eras Tour. In some ways, it’ll be back to football.
Yet, if the Swifties stick around to root on their newfound attachment, Kansas City will be a national epicenter in a way that was unimaginable even a few years ago.
The Chiefs are no longer a football team. They’re an American dynasty.
