The Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Super Bowl LVIII. With the big game approaching, it is time to address a current controversy in NFL that has many fans up in arms: Taylor Swift.
The Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce has been dating the pop-star Taylor Swift. The courting began after he attended one of her shows at Arrowhead Stadium in July, and as far as the public knows, that is when it began.
“Swifties” went wild on Sept. 24 when Taylor was in attendance at the game played against the Chicago Bears. Seeing her in the box with Donna Kelce (Travis’ mom) confirmed some sort of relationship was occurring between Swift and the All-Pro tight end.
Taylor has since been in attendance for 12 Chiefs games. While her fans have been excited to see her sitting in various luxury boxes and supporting her boyfriend, many football fans do not appear to feel the same.
She has been heckled at many games, most recently by a Ravens fan who screamed “You’re ruining football” to her as she was leaving the stadium after the AFC championship game.
However, when Kelce attended one of Taylor’s concerts in November, there was no backlash about him ruining the concert. So really, why are football fans attacking Swift for supporting someone she loves?
The NFL has seen an increase in viewership when they show Taylor at games, so the league continues to market her presence. Travis Kelce also saw a 400% increase in jersey sales after Taylor attended her first game.
The NFL wants to profit off Taylor’s immense popularity as much as possible, so when anything notable happens with Kelce on the field, they quickly flash the camera to the luxury box catch Taylor’s reaction.
The networks are continuing to show Taylor Swift during games, which is causing all of the backlash. Many have said they believe it takes away from the team’s moment.
However, the same was not said when Jason Kelce, the Eagles’ center and Travis’ brother, took off his shirt off and jumped out of the VIP box to celebrate. To fans, that was just a supportive brother, but when Taylor gets up and yells, it is overdramatic.
There’s a word for that hypocrisy: It’s called sexism.
There is truly no good reason for anyone to be hating on Taylor Swift for attending these games and supporting Travis Kelce. Let’s hope Taylor Swift is able to make it to the game on Sunday so the haters can see her during the big game, too.
