Taylor Swift has caused a major stir in America after attending a Kansas City Chief’s and Chicago Bears NFL game.
Swift was spotted watching the game with Travis Kelce’s mum, Donna, before leaving the game with Kelce in a “getaway car”.
The reaction has been explosive, with both Swifites and the sporting community becoming particularly invested.
Kelce jersey sales have already skyrocketed, with NBC reporting a near 400 per cent spike in sales.
“Yesterday, Travis Kelce was one of the top-five selling NFL players and saw a nearly 400 per cent spike in sales throughout the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com,” a spokesperson from Fanatics – the NFL’s official e-commerce partner – told NBC.
While this could simply be chalked up to Swifties offering their support for the megastar’s rumoured romance, the phenomenon seems to run deeper.
Her appearance at Arrowhead stadium has seen the NFL TikTok change its bio to “Taylor was here”.
ESPN’s TikTok has followed suit, essentially becoming a Taylor Swift fan account documenting her every move at the stadium.
They’ve posted her reaction to Kelce’s touchdown, memes, and even footage of her tidying up the box after the match.
There’s also been speculation over a video of Kelce on the pitch.
Some are claiming that he’s smiling up at the Grammy-winning singer while others have argued that he’s simply watching a replay.
Even the Bill Simmons Podcast – a popular sport podcast – has joined in on the discourse, discussing the appearance at length in yesterday’s episode.
Nathan Hubbard, who hosts a music podcast Every Single Album, was brought in for his take.
He discussed everything from Swift’s dating history to what the rumoured relationship could mean for Kelce.
“Even dating Taylor swift for two months I think makes him the second most famous football star now, right?” he questioned.
There was some speculation over whether this is simply a PR stunt, too, though Hubbard said he’s “super proud” of the pair.
“It’s kind of the best American moment since Hulk Hogan playing the guitar in front of the American flag.
“I’m super proud of her, him, this is terrific, we should be behind this,” he told listeners.
“She’s been dating for the last 8 years British people who look like tuberculosis patients, and so this feels like Independence Day for most fans.”
But while the NFL game has taken the discussion of Swift in the sports world to a whole new level, it’s not an entirely new concept.
A local American sport reporter already made their mark earlier this year when he hid
47 Taylor Swift song references in a newscast.
“It’s me, hi,” Chris Long from KSTP in Minnesota began, before impressively working in the references throughout his sports wrap.
Swift’s NFL appearance comes after Kelce revealed he’d “threw the ball in her court” and invited her to the game.
During the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Kelce said he’d told her “I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead, you might have to come see me rock a stage at Arrowhead and we can see which ones a little more lit”.
Kelce had also publicly admitted to his brother on their New Heights podcast that he’d tried to give Swift his number on a friendship bracelet at her Eras Tour concert in Kansas City back in July.
“I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” he said during the episode.
“So I was a little butthurt that I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.”
Now, while it remains to be seen exactly what’s going on between the star-studded pair, they were both spotted leaving the game together on Sunday.
The sighting has since been referenced to her single Getaway Car from her sixth studio album, Reputation.