Look what you made her do: Taylor Swift is Travis Kelce’s, Chiefs’ good luck charm

Author’s note: This is an article about Taylor Swift, which we are posting on a sports website. If you have strong negative feelings about coverage of Taylor Swift on a sports website, remember: You are more than welcome to NOT read coverage of Taylor Swift on a sports website. Only you can save yourself from reading about Taylor Swift on the internet.

Call it whatever you want: The Taylor Effect. Taylor’s Arrowhead Era. Annoying as hell.

Whether you love Taylor Swift or hate her, the numbers don’t lie: The Kansas City Chiefs are 19-3 when she is physically at their games to cheer on her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce.

Kelce and Swift made their relationship public in Oct. 2023, and she has attended 22 of his games in person since the appearance that launched a billion rumors in Sept. 2023. Nineteen of those have been victories, against just three losses.

Is Taylor Swift the only reason the Chiefs have been dominant over that stretch? Of course not. The Chiefs, as you may have noticed over the course of their quest for a Super Bowl three-peat, are pretty inevitable. Andy Reid is an outstanding coach, Patrick Mahomes seems superhuman most of the time, and this crew was winning before Travis even tried to slip Taylor his phone number. But the results are undeniable.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Kansas City Chiefs’ superpower: Taylor Swift in the stadium.

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. - ‘Anti-hero’ by Taylor Swift

I’ve heard it nonstop for two seasons now: “I’m so tired of seeing Taylor Swift on screen at Chiefs games! She’s ruining the sport! I, the protagonist of reality, am being personally and irreparably harmed by these occasional, brief reminders of Taylor Swift’s existence!”

Over the course of the 2023 postseason, Taylor was averaging about 44 seconds of screen time in a three-hour broadcast. Over the course of the entire season, that average was 25 seconds per broadcast. If you can’t deal with 25 seconds of a woman on your TV screen during an NFL game, you have bigger issues and should probably stop reading this blog and immediately do some serious soul searching.

In Taylor’s own words: You need to calm down. You’re being too loud.

If I was out flashing my dollars
I’d be a bitch, not a baller
They paint me out to be bad
So it’s okay that I’m mad - ‘The Man’ by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift isn’t ruining the NFL. She is introducing more women in multiple age demographics to the game, she is improving television ratings, and she is making the league richer.

In 2023, according to Front Office Sports, the NFL brought in its highest viewership numbers among women in the regular season since the league started tracking that data in 2000. While male viewership increased 6% in 2023, female viewership increased 9%. Overall, it’s estimated that the Taylor Effect has resulted in about $330 million in revenue between viewership, in-person attendance, and merch sales. Kelce’s jerseys alone saw a 400% increase in sales after Taylor’s first Chiefs game experience.

But I, I was high in the sky, with Pennsylvania under me ... - ‘seven’ by Taylor Swift

I don’t think there’s any question about her loyalties now, but Taylor’s from Pennsylvania originally and she grew up an Eagles fan. That’s specifically referenced in her song Gold Rush from the album Evermore.

I see me padding ‘cross your wooden floors
With my Eagles t-shirt hanging from the door

Assuming Kelce’s brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, and sister-in-law Kylie are watching the Super Bowl with Swift, she’ll obviously be in good company. It remains to be seen how Jason and Kylie will handle their split loyalties on Sunday, but there’s no question about which team Taylor will be rooting for.

I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say - ‘Lavender Haze’ by Taylor Swift

One of the most consistent complaints I’ve seen from people who whine about Taylor Swift’s proximity to the Chiefs is that this is somehow harmful or problematic for “real” football fans. Well I hate to break it to y’all, but Taylor Swift is a REAL Chiefs fan.

Fake fans don’t stay up until all hours of the night in the middle of their blockbuster Eras Tour to chop it up in the comments on Chiefs Super Bowl ring ceremony live streams. One does not simply holler delightedly in all caps about Mecole Hardman of all people without being a Chiefs megafan.

Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads
Beer stickin’ to the floor, cheers chanted ‘cause they said
There was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league
Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me - ‘The Alchemy’ by Taylor Swift

Another common complaint about Taylor Swift is “she only writes songs about her exes,” which first of all is patently false. On her last album, The Tortured Poets Department, alone, she did write songs about exes Joe Alwyn (Goodbye London, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart) and Matty Healy (she absolutely eviscerated him on The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, and rightfully so) — but she also has songs about other topics: Clara Bow and the experience of being a pop culture it-girl, Florida!!! is about starting over and escaping harsh judgment (like when people claim she’s destroying the NFL), and ThanK you aIMee is a banger about harassment she experienced from Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and their fans.

But she also wrote about her current love, specifically So High School. My personal theory is that The Alchemy was probably initially about Healy but the sports references make me think Kelce was an influence, and I think the last verse of But Daddy I Love Him is also about Kelce.

So High School is such a perfect fit for Travis Kelce, and Taylor seemed to work in a nod to Chiefs Kingdom during the final European leg of the Eras Tour, when she incorporated swag-surfing into the choreography.

The Alchemy gets a little heavy-handed with the sports metaphors (call the amateurs and cut them from the team ... these blokes warm the benches, we’ve got a winning streak) but it’s still a great song.

And the final verse of But Daddy I Love Him seems to send a clear message about how happy Swift is in her relationship with Kelce.

Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun, and even my daddy just loves him
I’m his lady, and oh my God, you should see your faces
Time, doesn’t it give some perspective
And no, you can’t come to the wedding
I know he’s crazy but he’s the one I want

What if I told you none of it was accidental
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?
I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line - ‘Mastermind’ by Taylor Swift

There’s a reason no NFL team has ever won back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls: It’s damn near impossible. If the Eagles win, I can absolutely see people blaming Taylor for being a distraction or existing or whatever.

They say, “She’s gone too far this time”
Don’t blame me, love made me crazy
If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right - ‘Don’t Blame Me’ by Taylor Swift

But If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl against the Eagles and become the first team in NFL history to bring home a Lombardi Trophy three seasons in a row, am I giving Taylor credit? Hell yes. A record of 20-3 with Swift in the stadium is just too significant to ignore. I also feel like it’s a little bit of karma, rattling your ground, all of you Dads, Brads and Chads who complain about her screen time and her positive impact on the NFL.

You are more than welcome to disagree, and you can blame Taylor for destroying football and the Chiefs and the very fabric of American society or whatever nonsense you can cook up about her, but the Chiefs might be the Last Great American Dynasty.

And I hope Taylor has a marvelous time ruining everything.