Despite the ongoing and loud woes of your neighborhood Brad, Chad or Dad, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the Super Bowl and so is pop star Taylor Swift.
A study from Lending Tree found Swift's appearance at games to support boyfriend Travis Kelce have impacted how about a quarter of Americans view the NFL — for the good and bad.
Seventeen percent of those surveyed argue Swift has ruined the game.
The popular opinion, at least among those trying to make money, says quite the opposite.
Putting the world's most-watched people in one spot during 2024's Super Bowl saw the most-watched television event since the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Given the sharp increase in views once Swift entered the scene, is 2025 just another Blank Space in the record books?
Related: History of the Super Bowl commercial
Gauging the Net Worth of Our Cast of Characters
The Chiefs and Swift have always shared at least one thing in common, and that's of course making money.
Swift's status as a pop culture icon is both undeniable and profitable. The billionaire's recent Eras Tour brought in $2 billion in ticket sales alone, making it the highest grossing tour of all-time.
Related: How Swifties turned the Eras Tour into an economic force
The movie version brought in a box office of $261.1 million — not counting the millions of plays it has received since its streaming release.
Swift also netted millions on the re-releases of her catalog of albums. Her latest release, The Tortured Poet's Department, sold 1.4 million copies on its first day alone.
The returning Super Bowl champions are no financial slouches either, having just celebrated its fourth Super Bowl win and third under head coach Andy Reid.
A bunch of players have lucrative contracts, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes holds the biggest NFL contract in history at $450 million over 10 years in addition to sponsorship deals with Adidas (ADDDF) , State Farm, Subway and more.
Swift's boyfriend and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is reported to have a $34.25 million 2-year contract and endorsement deals with Pfizer (PFE) , McDonald's (MCD) and Nike (NKE) . Kelce's Podcast empire New Heights is reported to be worth upwards of nine figures.
Transcript:
Like it or not, the Kansas City Chiefs are back to the Super Bowl...And so is Taylor Swift.
A study from Lending Tree found the pop star's appearances at NFL games impacted how a quarter of Americans feel about the NFL.
Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they've gotten more interested in the league ,while ten percent said Swift left them changing channels.
And then you add in the Chiefs themselves...with standout stars like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcee.
So, what happens when you put the most-watched people in music and sports in one broadcast?
We got that answer in 2024: A lot more people watch the game.
Your average regular season NFL game garners about 17.9 million viewers.
And Then Taylor shows up, launching a rumor mill that saw 27 million views for the Chiefs match against the Bears on September 24 of 2023.
Excluding streaming events and playoff games, viewership was up 40% (on average) when Taylor graced the VIP suite.
Apex Marketing even put a dollar sign on Swift's attendance.
They told Front Office Sports she made the chiefs an estimated $331.5 million in brand value, simply by showing up.
Not enough to buy into the Swift effect?
Then let's take Taylor off the table and look at the 2022 NFL regular season.
The most-watched game, the Chiefs versus the Cincinnati Bengals, made its way to just over 25 million TVs.
To compare, the Chiefs averaged 18.6 million viewers per game that year.
The 2022 season ended with 115 million people tuning into Super Bowl 57, watching the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
And that brings us to 2024.
The Chiefs returned for their second Super Bowl in a row, but now, Taylor and her fanbase are cheering from the bleachers.
Super Bowl 58 becomes the most-watched television event since the Apollo moon landing in 1969.
Nielsen estimates over 200 million tuned in during at least one part of the broadcast.
Maybe the numbers peaked to see the half-time performance of 8-time Grammy winner, Usher.
Or catch one of the $7 million 30-second ads.
Who knows?
But the Super Bowl reigns as TV's biggest night of the year...And the Swift/Kelce love story continues.
This year looks like just another Blank Space in the record books.
