Taylor Swift Has Made the Chiefs This Much Richer

A popular singer by the name of Taylor Swift has helped put NFL team the Kansas City Chiefs on the map, and make them loads of money in the process—as much as $331.5 million, one expert says.

It all happened when the "Bad Blood" singer started dating Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' Super Bowl-winning tight end, in late 2023, also helping to make him a household name around the world.

But before diehard NFL fans get mad about these facts, it's important to take into consideration the millions of people in the U.S. and globally who knew nothing about the Chiefs, or even the sport in general, before the couple's romance began.

"If you took a population base of the seven billion people in the world, many could name an athlete from global sports such as Formula 1 or English Premier League," Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group—which conducted research into the economic impact of Swift and Kelce's relationship and came up with the figure—tells Newsweek.

"And that's what this whole viral episode is all about; it has really catapulted Travis and made him a known name in other parts of the world."

In a new survey by Lending Tree, 13 percent of Americans said they were more interested in football due to Swift.

Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted the positive effect the singer has had on the NFL. "It has connected more fans of Taylor's and more fans of the NFL in some ways. To see that they have a connection, now they have a connection to our game and to Taylor... I think it's great for the league to have that kind of attention. So, we welcome it," he said last year.

In what's been dubbed "The Taylor Effect," the Chiefs have seen a boon in merchandise sales, sponsorship, ticket sales, and social media followers. The NFL has even had a surge in viewership, with a significant jump in women tuning in to watch games.

"It's definitely unprecedented; you can't go on NFL Sunday without hearing her name in some form of media and in multiple locations," Smallwood says.

She was already one of the most famous musicians of her generation prior to her astounding 2023, but Swift smashed all expectations by having the highest-grossing live music tour of all time, contributing $6 billion to the U.S. economy because of that tour, according to Inc., breaking box office records with her concert movie and doubling her fortune to become a billionaire. She was also named Time's Person of the Year, much to the chagrin of Donald Trump.

As for Kelce, he's a record-breaking tight end at the top of his game and became more well known outside of NFL in early 2023, when he not only won the Super Bowl with the Chiefs but also hosted Saturday Night Live a week later and picked up multiple high-profile brand endorsements.

"When you take the top athlete and top entertainer in the world, it's a media phenomenon. It's the 'Taylor Effect'," Smallgood explains.

He compares the phenomenon to the hysteria around other high-profile couples such as now-King Charles and Princess Diana in the 1980s or when their son Prince Harry left the Royal Family to move to the U.S. with his wife, Meghan Markle.

So bringing this force of personalities together is obviously going to be nothing but good news for the Chiefs' bottom line.

According to his Smallwood's research, Swift brought $331.5 million of equivalent brand value to the Chiefs from September 24— when she went public with Kelce—to January 22 alone.

"The equivalent brand value is what it would cost for a brand to advertise across media where they have gotten exposure from TV to print, radio and social media," Smallwood says, adding that in the same period of time there were 100,000 mentions of the couple in traditional media alone.

Then there are the numbers on social media, which are "astronomical" and beyond belief, according to Smallwood. And the Chiefs are quickly closing in on some of the most popular NFL teams on Instagram.

The team had a 400,000 boost to followers when Kelce and Swift went public with their relationship, according to analytics brand Social Blade, and a further 400,000 surge in the past 30 days to bring them to equal third most-followed team in the NFL alongside the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Outside of media mentions, the Taylor Effect has brought more eyeballs to NFL games, especially if the singer is going to be in attendance.

The Chiefs' AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens averaged around 55.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched AFC Championship game ever and a 17 percent increase on the year before.

Not only that, the NFL has just had the highest regular-season viewership by women since it started collecting that data in 2000. It had a 53 percent surge with teenage girls, 24 percent with women aged 18-24, and 34 percent among those aged 35 and above. It comes to a total of more than 2 million women tuning in since Swift started attending games, which can only mean more advertising opportunities from TV and on-field exposure, according to IDX.

In fact, the Taylor Effect brought a 20 percent jump in sponsorships, based on data from The Wrap.

It even appears to have boosted ticket sales to live games. Ticketing website StubHub had a 175 percent increase in sales for the Chiefs' October game against the New York Jets, with a 20 percent surge in sales as Swift appeared at her first game in September, according to CBS.

Following that first appearance at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Kelce play, thus confirming their relationship, jersey sales for the tight end skyrocketed 400 percent, according to the NFL's e-commerce partner.

And this year's Super Bowl will be the most expensive to attend ever, with the average ticket going for $10,752—70 percent more than last year.

Matt Sapaula, senior board council of the financial services marketing company, PHP Agency, sums it up simply and even had a word of warning for Kelce.

"Swift has brought her fans who may never have watched or cared about football and those she influences to the NFL," Sapaula told Newsweek. "Watch out Travis Kelce, she's created a massive fan base writing songs about break-ups and she's just getting better, hopefully not at your expense."