NFL superstar and rumored Taylor-Swift-sweetheart Travis Kelce is beginning to grow weary of the league's coverage of her presence at games. "I think they're overdoing it a little bit for sure," Kelce, 33, said in his New Heights podcast on Wednesday. But the NFL has defended its coverage of the popstar, saying it's a "pop culture moment". TV cameras were glued to Swift during her attendance at Kelce's last game on Sunday. The Swift-Kelce media coverage exploded when the Anti-Hero singer first attended a Kansas City Chiefs game on 24 September and was seen leaving Arrowhead Stadium in a convertible with Kelce. And then Swift showed up with an entourage of A-list celebrities at the next game in New Jersey, cheering on Kelce alongside Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. The rumoured romance led to Kelce's jersey sales skyrocketing by 400%, NFL viewership numbers got a big bump and the league's middle-aged male-dominated audience has been joined by the Swifties — die-hard fans of the singer-songwriter. Nearly 20% of the tickets sold for the 1 October game were purchased after fans saw Swift at her first Chiefs game a week earlier, the BBC's US news partner CBS reported. Cameras panned to Swift no fewer than 17 times at the Chiefs-Jets showdown on Sunday in New Jersey, Kelce's brother, Jason, said on their podcast. "Damn, that's crazy," Kelce responded. In addition to showing Swift multiple times at the games, the league also promoted her appearances heavily on social media. The NFL posted a video of Swift talking to Blake Lively, who sat next to Swift at the game, on its Instagram account with the caption: "The @chiefs are 2-0 with @taylorswift in attendance." In a statement released on Wednesday, the NFL defended its coverage of Swift. "We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what's happening in and around our games, as well as culturally," the NFL wrote. "The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we've leaned into in real time, as it's an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we've seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport." Swift's attendance at the Chiefs-Jets game was the most watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl, with an average of 27 million TV viewers, according to NBC Sports. Jason Kelce, who is also an NFL player, said on the podcast that the league is not used to celebrities coming to games. "Like basketball has it figured out. They're all courtside, they're sitting there, they show them once or twice and then they get back to the game," he said. "They are not there to get thrown on the TV," Kelce said, continuing to air his frustrations. "You never know, you get caught throwing down a big old cheeseburger and you look like an idiot. There are certain things you just don't want to be on TV at all times." Given the massive economic and cultural ripple effect Swift's presence has brought to the NFL, it's no surprise that the league is making the most of the Kelce-Swift duo. The NFL has long sought to make inroads with younger and female viewers. And Swift is perhaps the biggest popstar in the world, with legions of fans in the same demographics that the NFL wants watching its games. Fox Sports said the Chiefs-Bears match on 24 September was the week's most-watched telecast across all networks, drawing in 24.3 million viewers. Among them, viewership among females aged 12-17 was notably higher, up 8% from the same window a year ago, ESPN reported. "It's like a business bonanza that just appeared for two brands that have some of the biggest brands in the world," Andrew Brandt, a former Green Bay Packers executive, told Vox. And one of ESPN's leading analysts, Stephen A Smith, says Kelce played his own part in the media frenzy after telling fans he sent Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. "Travis Kelce, stop, bro you did this, not the NFL," Smith said in response to Kelce's podcast comments. — BBC
