Taylor Swift’s expected attendance at Sunday night’s game between the Chiefs and the Jets will surely result in higher ratings than the contest between Patrick Mahomes and Zach Wilson otherwise would have generated. The best proof of what is coming for NBC likely comes from the audience attracted by Swift’s presence at Sunday’s Bears-Chiefs mismatch in Kansas City.
Via Variety.com, the Cornell-Hofstra slaughter still drew an average audience of 24.3 million viewers, with the highest numbers coming from female demographics in the age ranges of 12-17 and 18-49.
That’s Swiftie territory. Her budding romance with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and her presence at Sunday night’s game and likely others involving Kelce’s team will result in an avalanche of viewers who otherwise wouldn’t be watching football.
And many of them won’t be tuning in for the game, but to catch fleeting glimpses of Taylor Swift, wherever she might be sitting. For the NFL and the networks broadcasting the games, that doesn’t matter. Eyeballs are eyeballs, and millions more will be watching on Sunday night, not because of the expected exploits of the best player in football.
Most of the Chiefs’ remaining games are in high-profile or standalone spots, from a Thursday night to another Sunday night to two Monday nights to Christmas Day to a showdown with the Dolphins in Germany.