The relationship between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift has been the talk of the media over the last few weeks, and things really kicked into high gear after Swift attended the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. There has been talk about how much Kelce’s jersey sales have spiked since he began dating Swift, and now there are reports saying she will attend the Chiefs’ Week 4 game.
As the Kelce-Swift relationship has taken over the news cycle, it’s fair to wonder whether the relationship is real or fake.
What are some signals that the relationship might be a publicity stunt? Typically when athletes and entertainers are in relationships, they try to keep things more private. They don’t freely admit on their podcast or show that they are dating. Photos and videos of them leaving a stadium and hanging out later don’t tend to leak out so readily.
The initial report about them dating came from a website called The Messenger, which also had a followup story they blasted out to other media sites. How is a newcomer to the game getting these stories so easily?
And when Swift was at Sunday’s game, it’s not like she was hidden or trying to keep things private. She was as public as possible, sitting in a luxury suite next to Kelce’s mother. FOX also showed her as many times as possible, as if they were given permission — if not outright instructions — to feature her often.
Then a report came out on Wednesday saying Swift would be at Sunday night’s game. That report oddly came from a sports media reporter, not a gossip website. If the news leaked out as part of relationship/gossip talk, that would seem more fitting. But the news coming from a sports media reporter seems like it’s a coordinated effort between some folks involved in sports media.
BREAKING: Taylor Swift is expected to attend the @Chiefs at @nyjets game in person to support Travis Kelce, sources tell @FOS.
Her appearance could create huge TV ratings for NBC Sports' "Sunday Night Football." https://t.co/GvJbzIgIyq
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) September 27, 2023
If the relationship is indeed a publicity stunt, trying to figure out how it started is a good question. Did the NFL spearhead and coordinate the efforts? Did the publicists for each respective party make it happen? Who knows, but the whole thing seems to be very carefully coordinated and is producing the intended effect.
Since Taylor Swift showed up to Sunday's Chiefs-Bears game:
• 400% spike in Travis Kelce jersey sales
• Kelce's podcast ranks #1 overall on Apple
• Kelce adds 383K Instagram followers
• 24.3M viewers watch, #1 game this week
• 63% jump in female viewers age 18-49
• 3x… pic.twitter.com/Wqtu1vgMCT— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 26, 2023
And if you’re wondering why all the parties would have interest in a fake relationship, the answers are obvious. For the NFL and the Chiefs, it’s increased attention and publicity. The same goes for Kelce, who will now be famous with an entirely new audience, similar to what happened with Lamar Odom when he began dating Khloe Kardashian. His career after football is now made. He and his brother have also made it clear they crave attention beyond what they do on the field when they created their podcast last year. What could be better for their post-football careers than this sort of attention?
And for Swift, this further increases her popularity. And who knows? Maybe she’ll even get a song or two out of this.
