After a couple of weeks of scattered rumors of a budding romance between Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, she showed up at a Chiefs game on Sunday. And everyone basically lost their minds over it.
The situation already has benefited Kelce. In the aftermath of the 41-10 win over the Bears, Kelce has seen an increase in social media followers of more than 300,00 and a 400-percent bump in merchandise sales. His jersey is now among the top five in sales for the entire league.
And, yes, Kelce now risks becoming someone about whom the future lyrics of a Taylor Swift song are devoted, if the relationship ends poorly. But given Kelce’s post-football aspirations (which include acting), even a song titled Travis Kelce is a Big Fartface would benefit his interests and increase his profile.
The situation also helps the NFL. Although, as Rich Eisen noted on Monday, Big Shield was possibly big mad over the announcement that Usher will perform at halftime of Super Bowl LVIII being upstage by the Swift-Kelce situation, she will draw many of her fans to football.
The first piece of tangible proof might come on Sunday night, when plenty of youngsters otherwise disinterested in the NFL will be tuning in to see the Kelce’s Chiefs play the Jets. It will make the ratings for the Rodgers-less game very revealing.