Cooper Neill/Getty Images
After conquering the music business, poised to conquer the movie business and proving herself to be one of the most powerful economic and cultural forces of this era, Taylor Swift is lending some of her superstar power to the NFL and NBC.
Swift’s 2014 song “Welcome to New York” provides the soundtrack to the new promo that the league and network released this morning. The self-proclaimed 30-second clip “Taylor Made for Sunday Night” is a marketer’s dream and includes scenes of Swift’s current boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, as well as packed stadiums and tackles – as you can see can:
Just as she played a prominent role in Kelce and the Chiefs’ 41-10 win over the Chicago Bears on September 24, Swift will be in attendance for this weekend’s primetime clash in the Big Apple between the host New York Jets and Kansas City . As NBC prays for an end to the rain that has flooded parts of New York, it is undoubtedly hoping for a boost in the ratings that Fox had last week. So expect the cameras to frequently switch to Swift and her well-groomed surprise face throughout the game.
The SNF promo comes after Swift turned down a request from Murdoch-owned network Fox Sports to use her music on its Sept. 24 NFL coverage. “We knew immediately that this broadcast would be notable less for the game coverage and more for the images we captured of the pop superstar in attendance,” Fox NFL lead producer Richie Zyontz wrote online earlier this week about rumors of Swift’s appearance the Chiefs/Bears game.
“Earlier this week, our Bulldog co-producer Rich Gross asked for permission to use some of Swift’s music amid the flood of rumors,” he added. “Not a chance. According to FOX Music, Swift’s record label and publisher declined our request “related to speculation about her personal/personal/dating life.”
Of course, no one knows how to market a new product like Taylor Swift, openly or not. I mean, it’s not for nothing that the multiple Grammy winner is the first woman to have both a Diamond-certified album (2008’s Fearless) and a song (“Shake It Off”)
As beneficial as the singer is to the NFL and NBC, don’t think for a second that Swift isn’t eager to capture the attention of football fans and their families when her concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” plays 7,500 worldwide Cinemas opens October 13th. The AMC-distributed Eras flick is on the cusp of Swift’s wildly successful tour and could have a staggering $100 million opening.
Or as Swift sings in “Welcome to New York,” “The lights are so bright, but they never blind me.”
See you at Sunday Swifties.