A Swift boost to NFL love among women

Look what Taylor Swift made them do. Young women love the NFL more than ever due to the love story between Swift and Travis Kelce, according to a marketing study released Wednesday.

The league’s popularity was already rising among millennial and Gen Z women but began a swift climb when rumors of romance began involving the “Cornelia Street” artist and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

In December, 64% of millennial and Gen Z women held a favorable opinion of the NFL, according to data tracked by market researchers at Morning Consult. While men have loved the NFL forever and always, that was an all-time high for young women since the company began tracking opinions on pro sports leagues.

“The data makes it clear: Taylor Swift’s legions of young female fans tuning in to watch her support Travis Kelce is undoubtedly the X-factor that propelled the NFL’s popularity among women to new heights throughout the 2023 season,” the consultants wrote.

Swift and Kelce (photo top)were first linked over the not-so-cruel summer, and their relationship reached another level when she attended a Chiefs game in September to watch Kelce and Co. dismantle the Chicago Bears.

Since then, Swift has routinely appeared in box suites at Chiefs games, including at all three of the team’s playoff games as they went on an enchanted run to Super Bowl LVIII.

Midway through the season, as the Chiefs were struggling, some sports commentators blamed her for the team’s apparent “lavender haze,” but the squad, and Kelce in particular, stormed out of the woods late in the season and during the playoffs.

Swift will need to make an extra effort to be in attendance for the Super Bowl. She begins the Asian leg of her Eras Tour just a few days before the big game, but there is enough of a break to allow her to make it. Some might call that a champagne problem.