There’s evidence that Taylor Swift followers are taking the NFL by storm. Sunday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets, which the Queen of Pop also attended, attracted an average of 27 million viewers in the US, the highest number since the last Super Bowl.
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The numbers released by the NBC network don’t lie, with peaks of more than 29.4 million viewers. You should know that the most popular duels on Sunday usually reach an audience of 20 to 25 million people.
The relationship between Travis Kelce and Swift really arouses the passion of Swifties, as the star’s admirers are called.
For comparison: the NBA finals last spring attracted 11.6 million viewers. In major baseball, the various games of the Finals drew between 11 and 15 million. What about the National Hockey League? The Bettman circuit is a poor ratio, averaging 2.6 million players for the Stanley Cup Finals.
Young ladies seduced
Chiefs fans play the game willingly, like this spectator who was having fun two weeks ago and asked if Taylor Swift was at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Getty Images via AFP
Even more infamous is the fact that the Taylor Swift effect is shaping Chiefs games: The young female audience the NFL is desperate to charm seems to be there more than ever.
The game would have resulted in a 53% increase in female audience among teenage girls aged 12 to 17, 24% among young adults aged 18 to 24 and 34% among those over 35.
Exploding prices
Getty Images via AFP
It’s hard to imagine that Swift’s mere presence in a remote stadium box would drive crowds to flock, but it certainly seems that way.
Ticket resale platform StubHub observed a roughly 175% increase in prices between Swift’s first appearance in a box at the Chiefs’ game against the Bears on Sept. 24 and her visit to New York a week later.
For the Chiefs’ next game, Sunday against the Vikings in Minneapolis, prices would rise 121%. However, the singer’s presence is not confirmed.
While excellent tight end Travis Kelce’s reputation is already well known, keep in mind that sales of his number 87 sweater also skyrocketed by 400%, according to Front Office Sports. His podcast “New Heights,” which he recorded with his brother Jason, suddenly hit number one on Apple.
Since the two alleged lovebirds were spotted together, the gentleman’s Instagram account has finally gained a million subscribers.