by Eva Schmeider
Taylor Swift’s influence on the world of music is absolutely beyond compare, making her a true superstar in the music and entertainment industry. In case you didn’t already know, Taylor Swift is a singer/songwriter. She has sold over 13 million albums, won countless awards, and is one of the top-selling digital artists in music history. At the beginning of 2023, Swift was said to be dating singer/songwriter Matty Healy. However, their romance came to an end quickly in June of this year. There wasn’t a clear reason why the couple ended their relationship, but it was simply said that they were both too busy. Then, later on in July, NFL star Travis Kelce tried to shoot his shot and get Taylor’s attention at an Eras Tour show he attended. He had planned to give her a handmade friendship bracelet with his number on it, but it didn’t go as he would have wished: his sweet gesture was quickly shut down when Taylor refused to meet with anyone before or after the show, due to her trying to save her singing voice. Kelce felt bittersweet in regard to this experience and took his failed attempt personally. Then in The Pat McAfee Show, Kelce went on to say that he “threw the ball in her court.” Kelce was pretty much implying it was Taylor’s turn to make a move (if she was interested, of course). After publicly showing his interest in Taylor, Kelce found himself in a media frenzy surrounding their interaction. It was on September 24 at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears game when everything truly imploded for Kelce.
On this September day, Taylor was spotted in box seats with Kelce’s family. Just the mere view of Taylor cheering with Kelce’s mom at the game was enough to go significantly viral. Throughout the next few weeks, Travis gained over 860,000 followers and his sales boosted over 400%, not to mention, his most recent podcast brought in over 24 million views and is still rising. People are starting to call this boost the “Taylor Swift effect” due to her enormous fan base’s reaction. It has been said that he gained more followers in just September than in all three Super Bowls he participated in. Now the question is, did Taylor put Travis Kelce on the map? In other words, was she responsible for his surge in popularity? I believe the answer is yes, to an extent. Obviously, Travis Kelce was very well known for being one of the best football tight ends for the Kansas City Chiefs, before Taylor. In addition to this, he won two Super Bowls and was named First-Team All-Pro 4 times. However, I personally had no clue who he was until this news came along, and I believe this is the case for a large percentage of other teenage girls as well. It has been proven that Taylor’s fan base is mainly females, so I believe that she was able to put Travis on a “different” map, for lack of a better word. I think she expanded his fans to more females rather than a majority male fan base, which he originally had. Taking everything into account, I do believe Taylor Swift put Kelce on the map, just a new one.
However, the recent development of this new relationship has stirred up quite a bit of controversy. Some people are skeptical that the NFL is trying to use Taylor for leverage and a marketing/PR boost. The NFL has recently changed its banner on Twitter to showcase the pop star. Not to mention on October 1st, during the Chiefs vs. Jets game, the cameras cut to Taylor Swift a whopping 17 times! This frequent spotting left a large percentage of genuine fans who actually wanted to watch the game very annoyed and frustrated by the end of it. However, it does make one wonder, is this new duo just a publicity stunt? I can’t imagine why Taylor or Travis would need one, seeing as they are multi-millionaires with successful careers. Despite this, there are many theories still surrounding this situation, making it an ongoing topic of discussion.
The Drumbeat 