This NFL season hasn’t just captured the attention of hardcore football fans. It has also drawn in a whole new audience.
That’s thanks to the budding relationship between pop superstar Taylor Swift and future Hall of Fame Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift has attended a number of games in person this season, including every game during Kansas City’s postseason run.
While their relationship has warmed the hearts of many, some more conspiratorially minded fans have theorized that the relationship was a plant from the NFL to draw in new viewers.
Speaking to the media ahead of Super Bowl 58 on Monday night, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed those theories directly. He called them nonsensical, though naturally, he said he welcomes the relationship between Kelce and Swift, who is expected to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday in Las Vegas.
“The idea that this was in a script, that this was pre-planned, that’s just nonsense,” Goodell said. “It’s frankly not even worth talking about. We see two people who are really happy together, having fun together, I think that’s wonderful and I wish them well.
“They’re both wonderful people. The fact that they’re both involved in football in some fashion through their relationship, that’s great. We welcome that.”
Roger Goodell says anyone who accuses him of scripting Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Relationship is nonsense pic.twitter.com/0segUWT1kY
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) February 5, 2024
Goodell went on to discuss the positive impact Swift has had on the game with what he called the “Taylor Swift effect.”
“Having the Taylor Swift effect is also a positive,” Goodell said. “Listen, both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, they seem very happy. She knows great entertainment, and I think that’s why she loves NFL football. But I think it’s great to have her a part of it.
“Obviously, it creates a buzz, it creates another group of young fans, particularly young women, that are interested in seeing, ‘Why is she going to this game?’ ‘Why is she interested in this game?’ Besides Travis, she’s a football fan.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Taylor Swift's effect on the game this season
"Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, they seem very happy…I think it's great to have her a part of it" pic.twitter.com/KiacgJKBRb
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) February 5, 2024
The NFL obviously benefits from Swift’s presence, and it’s clear the league is happy to have the new audience she brings in. But when it comes to the more outlandish theories about the relationship, Goodell clearly has no interest in giving them the time of day.
