The Meeting of Two Can’t-Miss Brands: Taylor Swift and the NFL

Article ByKyle Garlett

September 29, 2023

Spread the Word:

Posted in: US Sports Betting News, US Gambling News

The total value of the 32 NFL teams is $163 billion, which is a 14% increase over the value in 2022. But the sports, entertainment, television, and gambling juggernaut that is NFL professional football saw a 40% increase in sports betting revenue last season.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions, and their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is the defending MVP. But the reason the tickets for this Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and the New York Jets are going up in price is the rumor that Taylor Swift will be in attendance.

Ticket broker Gametime told the New York Post that on Wednesday, after word leaked that the 12-time Grammy winner would be in attendance at MetLife Stadium to watch the Chiefs vs. the Jets and her alleged new love interest, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, ticket prices increased 46.3%. Before Swift, tickets for the game were selling for an average of $428.70. With Swift in attendance, ticket prices made it up to $627.20.

StubHub and uStadium said the Jets sold more than double the amount of tickets on Wednesday than they did on any other day this season.

Swift performed three sold-out shows at MetLife Stadium in May, and the cheapest tickets before the concerts was slightly more than $1,000.

Travis Kelce Jersey Sales Explode

Travis Kelce is an NFL star, as the only tight end in league history to eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving mark in seven straight seasons. But after he was connected to Swift, the sales of his #87 jersey spiked at a 400% increase last Sunday, when Swift was in attendance at the Chiefs win over the Chicago Bears.

Swift was shown multiple times during the broadcast in a suite with Kelce’s mom, Donna, and cheering wildly when Kelce scored a touchdown in the third quarter. After the game she was also spotted on her way out of the stadium with Kelce.

Kelce hosts a podcast with his brother, Jason, the center for the Philadelphia Eagles, called New Heights – a nod to the brothers’ childhood in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. And along with a huge increase in Travis’s social media followers was an increase in podcast downloads. This week’s episode is ranked No. 1 among all podcasts on Apple, and it received more than a million new views on YouTube.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid joked that he deserved the credit, telling reporters, “I set them up.”

Everything Kelce and Swift is Selling

The Cincinnati Bearcats, where both Kelces played their college football, are selling limited edition Travis Kelce jerseys. Cincinnati’s sales pitch on social media said, “Swifties! Why limit yourself to concert tees?”

In Kansas City, within hours of the Swift sighting at Arrowhead Stadium, T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring the potential couple were for sale and selling out.

Rumors spread on the Monday after she was in Kansas City that Swift was spotted at the Free State Brewing Co. in nearby Lawrence, Kansas. Swift once told Oprah Winfrey that she had a friend at the University of Kansas, and her idea of a perfect day would be to visit her friend in Lawrence.

Along with the rumor of the visit, that clip from 2009 made the internet rounds, and the Free State Brewing Co. was mobbed. It turns out Swift was not there.

Taylor Swift-Themed Prop Bets

Where there is the NFL, there is sports betting. And in honor of the budding relationship between Kelce and Swift, FanDuel has created a series of Kelce proposition bets for this Sunday, based on Swift song titles.

• FriENDZONE: Kelce to NOT Score a TD (+105)
• Opening Act: Kelce First TD scorer (+400)
• Top of the Charts: Kelce to Most Receiving Yards in the Game (+140)
• Seeing Red: Chiefs to Win by 22+ Points (+380)
• Seemingly Ranch: Kelce Last TD Scorer (+500)

BetUS.com has the Chiefs favored to win the game by 9.5 points.