Image Credit: Michael Simon/Shutterstock
Taylor Swift, 33, is making football game viewership, especially among females, go up every time she makes an appearance in the crowd. That’s according to a new press release from NBC Sports. The singer attended her second Kansas City Chiefs game of this season on Sunday night and watched her rumored beau, Travis Kelce, 33, and his teammates beat the New York Jets. One day after the big event, it was reported the game became the most viewed Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII back in February.
The game brought in approximately 27 million viewers, according to the press release. The result was based on “preliminary data across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms,” and proved the game’s Total Audience Delivery (TAD) “is up 22% from last year’s Week 4 game,” which had 22.2 million viewers. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes faced then Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady during the 2022 game.
Taylor standing with her friends while watching the Chiefs game on Sunday night. (Michael Simon/Shutterstock)
Before Sunday’s game, the Sunday Night Football (SNF) promo called “Taylor Made for Sunday Night,” which teased Taylor’s appearance, was viewed approximately eight million times. The press release also revealed that viewership during the game peaked at an estimated 29.4 million viewers. Based on Nielsen Fast National figures (not including Out of Home metrics), viewership among teen girls (age 12-17) went up 53% from the season-to-date average of the first three weeks of SNF, while the audience among Women aged 18-24 was up 24%, and Women 35+ increased 34%. Overall, the growth resulted in an approximate viewership increase of more than two million female viewers.
Once the results went up on social media, many credited Taylor for being the reason female viewership increased, since the talented songwriter is known for having many dedicated female fans. “It’s the Taylor Swift effect,” one online user wrote, while another pointed out that anywhere Taylor goes, there’s bound to be a large audience.
Taylor at her first Chiefs game last week. (Michael Simon/Shutterstock)
Taylor, who first sparked romance rumors with Travis last month, showed up to a Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO on September 24. Her appearance wasn’t confirmed ahead of time, but Travis had made it publicly known that he invited her to a game at the stadium, where she also performed on her recent Eras Tour. Her latest appearance at Sunday’s game, which took place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, was reported ahead of time, which gave her fans a heads up about watching.
It’s unclear if Taylor will attend any more Chiefs games in the near future, but she’s set to take her tour to South America on November 9. She’ll start with multiple shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will then play multiple shows in Brazil until November 26. After a two-month break, her tour will start up again in Tokyo, Japan on February 7.
