ESPN Must Be PRAYING That Taylor Swift Shows Up To Chiefs-Eagles To See Travis Kelce On Monday Night Football
ESPN isn't a very religious place. But, there's no question that executives are on their hands and knees, PRAYING that Taylor Swift attends the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11 to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
Although the logistics are a bit convoluted, I think she's going to do just that.
I know that OutKick readers are intimately familiar with Taylor Swift's concert tour dates, but I'm going to write them out anyway. She's currently on the international leg of her Eras Tour.
Her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, showed up in Argentina to watch her perform during the team's bye week. If you haven't seen that yet, it probably means you don't have Internet access. Which makes the fact you're reading this article nothing short of incredible. Good for you.
Here it is, though, in case you missed it:
Yes, Swift changed the lyrics of her song from "Karma is the guy on the screen" to "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs." If you didn't know, the point of the song is "Karma is my boyfriend."
Clearly, she confirmed on stage that the two are, in fact, dating.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pop singer Taylor Swift leaving the SNL after party on October 15, 2023. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
If that wasn't enough to convince you, she ran off the stage and kissed him after the performance.
I didn't think I'd be covering Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce's love life ever in my career, but here we are.
More importantly, though, I want to focus on her impact on viewership. There's no question that Taylor Swift showing up to an NFL game increases the audience size. Both games that she attended drew over 24 million Americans.
Even a game where fans thought she might attend -- but didn't -- drew over 23 million viewers during the late-afternoon window game against the Vikings on FOX.
So, yeah, she helps.
That brings us to the Week 11 Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Taylor Swift + Travis Kelce + Super Bowl Rematch + Monday Night Football = Ratings Bonanza for ESPN!
OK, so back to the original point here. ESPN wants Taylor Swift in attendance for this game. Taylor Swift probably wants to attend this game.
She grew up in Pennsylvania and is (allegedly) an Eagles fan. According to a source close to the situation, Swift even uses "Eagles" as a lyric in one of her songs. Apparently, according to the source, some fans are even mad that her dad -- also an Eagles fan -- wore some Chiefs gear during a show.
And by "source close to the situation," I mean my sister-in-law, Audra, the biggest Taylor Swift fan I know.
Plus, Travis Kelce's brother, Jason, plays for the Eagles. So, the entire Kelce family is going to be in attendance. That, again, makes this a desirable appearance for Taylor.
Mother Donna Kelce gives cookies to her son's Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LVII Opening Night. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Now, here are the logistics that I mentioned earlier, even though I know you already know them. Swift has a concert on Sunday night in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Then, she's "off" until Thursday when she has another weekend of shows in São Paulo, Brazil. So, theoretically, she could fly back to the United States either right after her Sunday night show or on Monday morning, and attend the Chiefs game in Kansas City.
Since she flies privately, this probably isn't a big deal. Then, she can even spend a couple days in K.C. before heading back to Brazil.
It's a little convoluted, but definitely possible. And, you heard it here first: I think that Taylor Swift absolutely attends the game to watch Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce and her childhood football team play.
ESPN executives will be celebrating like they just won their own Super Bowl if it happens.
ESPN has to be salivating at the idea of Taylor Swift attending the Chiefs-Eagles Monday Night Football game to see Travis Kelce. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
The question is, does the game top 30 million viewers? So far, just one Monday Night Football game this season surpassed 20 million viewers and that was the Week 1 contest that featured Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles against the Bills.
The highest-rated NFL game of the season thus far (through Week 9) featured the Eagles and Cowboys in Week 9, pulling in 27.1 million sets of eyeballs for FOX.
The highest-rated primetime game came in the aforementioned Chiefs-Jets game that Swift attended. That game fell just short of 25 million viewers.
My sister-in-law, mentioned earlier, is not much of a football fan. But, I asked her: if Swift attends, do you plan to watch the game.
"Absolutely," she responded. That's the Taylor Swift-effect.
But can she help deliver 30 million people for ESPN? Stay tuned...