Popstar Taylor Swift was spotted at a Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 24, 2023. Since then, rumors have spiraled about Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his relationship with Swift. The impact of their relationship spread from Arrowhead Stadium to social media to Pali. While Pali’s more supportive Swifties might be able to name 1,989 reasons they should be together, the couple’s relationship has also sparked controversy within the school’s community.
According to Yahoo Sports, the first game Swift attended received 24.3 million views on all platforms. It was the most-watched telecast of the week on any network and its viewers included some Pali Swifties.
“I started jumping up and down and screaming and then I proceeded to text my friends that I saw her,” sophomore Swiftie Fiona Dumonceau said.“I really like seeing her on TV. It’s really fun.”
However, Sofia Delanter, a Swiftie and member of Pali’s Taylor Swift Club disagreed with Dumonceau, explaining that she finds Swift’s presence at football games distracting.
“They record her during games, and they keep showing clips of her, and I feel like that’s not why people are watching,” she said. “[Swift is] also there to watch football. So I don’t know why we’re focusing on her instead of the game.”
After the game, the National Football League (NFL) briefly updated its X (formerly Twitter) bio to read, “NFL (Taylor’s Version).” The X bio was then changed to: “we had the best day with you today,” alluding to Swift’s song “The Best Day.” Some of their posts on games also focused on Swift’s appearances, rather than the highlights of the players.
“They’re advertising themselves off of Swift. They shouldn’t be taking too much advantage of [the relationship],” Delantar said. “They’re still real people with real feelings, and they want their privacy.”
However, Dumonceau said she supports how “[Swift] now feels comfortable to be seen out in public with [Kelce].”
After Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs v. Bears game, Kelce’s jersey sales increased by almost 400 percent according to ESPN. Yahoo Sports stated that Kelce gained about 700,000 followers on Instagram, 570,000 followers on TikTok and 25,000 followers on X since his relationship with Swift was publicized. Kelce gained more social media followers across multiple platforms from his relationship with Swift than he gained after winning both of his Super Bowls combined.
Pali social science teacher Stephanie Moore, a longtime Swift fan, believes Swift is responsible for Kelce’s boost in popularity.
“I’d never heard of Travis Kelce before Taylor started dating him,” Moore said. “I don’t think most 12 or 13-year-old girls know a lot about football.”
Because of the attention on Swift’s appearance at games, bad blood between traditional NFL fans and Swift fans emerged.
Mike Tobin, defensive end on Pali’s varsity football team, said he admires Kelce but does not think the Swifties’ newfound interest in football is genuine.
“They’re definitely temporary fans of football,” he said. “They’re just [watching] for Taylor Swift. It’s kind of annoying.”
“It’s good to bring a new market to football and have a bunch of people watching it,” Tobin added. “But I just don’t think that it’s going to be sustainable because all of the people that are watching just because of Taylor Swift won’t really keep an interest in football as a sport.”
Despite being a Swiftie, Dumonceau shared a similar perspective.
“When the football season ends in February, then football interest [at school] will probably go down, but Taylor Swift interest won’t go down because she’s still on tour,” Dumonceau said.
As Swift becomes more synonymous with football, multiple NFL teams started posting videos of their players naming their favorite songs by Swift.
Delantar explained that these developments, though surprising to many, demonstrate progress toward breaking down gender stereotypes.
“Swifties taking an interest in football normalizes girls liking things that are stereotypically something boys like to do or watch,” Delantar said.
Moore shares a similar view.
“It’s good when people break stereotypes that we have for them like, ‘Oh, it’s a football player,” she said. “They probably listen to heavy metal.”
“People shouldn’t judge you for liking football or judge football players for liking Taylor Swift,” Delantar said. “People should just stop making fun of other people for what they enjoy.”
