Money talks and Taylor Swift is certainly not the problem for the NFL.
The pop megastar has been a financial boon for the NFL and for the Kansas City Chiefs in the wake of her romance with star tight end Travis Kelce, according to a new report.
Front Office Sports recently reported that Swift has created a “brand value” of $331.5 million for the Chiefs and the NFL, citing data from Apex Marketing Group.
This data accounted for print, digital, radio, television, highlights and social media monitoring Swift since she attended her first Chiefs game on Sept. 24, through Jan. 22 — one day after her divisional-round appearance in Buffalo — and calculated a financial amount for each occurrence based on “reach and impact,” according to the report.
Apex President Eric Smallwood told Front Office Sports that digital content and online news created the most value ahead of social media.
In October, when the Swift-Kelce romance became a national sensation as the couple was photographed in New York City for a date night, the Grammy winner generated $166 million.
Swift first sent the internet into a tailspin in September, when she caught the Chiefs’ Week 3 victory over the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium.
She became a regular at Kelce’s games, attending 12 of 18, including all three of the Chiefs’ playoff games in their run to Super Bowl 2024.
Swift and Kelce, both 34, shared a kiss on the field after the Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the Ravens in Sunday’s AFC Championship game.
The “Cruel Summer” singer also helped the NFL produce its highest regular-season female viewership since it started collecting that data in 2000, and the top regular-season mark in the 18-34 demographic since 2019.
Female viewership rose nine percent from last season to this season, higher than male viewership’s six percent uptick, according to the Front Office Sports report.
This month’s wild-card playoff game between the Chiefs and Dolphins — which Swift attended — set the U.S. live event streaming record, while the Chiefs’ divisional-round win last week set the broadcast record for the second round of the playoffs with 50.4 million fans reportedly tuning in to see Kansas City’s 27-24 victory over Buffalo.
Additionally, Swift has helped sell merchandise.
Kelce gear had a 400 percent increase, and he became a top-five-selling jersey after Swift attended her first Chiefs game.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this year that the romance is “great” for the NFL, and now there’s financial data to back that up.
“Listen, they’re happy,” Goodell said in November. “They seem to be enjoying their relationship. That’s great in and of itself. But it has connected more fans of Taylor’s and more fans of the NFL in some ways. To see that they have a connection, now they have a connection to our game and to Taylor.”
The NFL is surely hoping Swift can make it to the Super Bowl, knowing there will be plenty of fans watching to see if she’s there to support Kelce as he aims for his third title and second consecutive ring.