Since Travis first invited Taylor to watch him play at Arrowhead Stadium last month, the popstar has attended two games — the first on Sept. 24 when the Chiefs took on the Chicago Bears in Kansas City.
Of course, if you’ve been online in the past two weeks, you’ll know that the NFL have fully embraced Taylor’s presence at the games, notably using her name, pictures, and even references to her lyrics all over their social media platforms.
More recently, after the Chiefs triumphed over the Jets on Sunday, the NFL updated their header on the site to a trio of photographs of Taylor cheering at the game, and also changed their bio to reference the lyrics of one of her songs.
Elsewhere, Time magazine noticed that the NFL Instagram account switched out its bio to: “chiefs are 2-0 as swifties” as the Jets game was still underway.
And the internet isn’t the only place the league is going all-in on their Swiftie era. During TV broadcasts of both the games that Taylor attended, the cameras repeatedly cut to her in the crowd, while the commentators talked about her frequently.
Like many online trends, the fanfare was initially received well. However, as the focus on Taylor got more and more pervasive over the weekend, people began to grow a little tired of it all.
On Monday, New York Giants fans showed their frustration as they booed an advert for her Eras Tour movie that played in the stadium. At the same game, another attendee was seen holding a sign that read: “Not a Swiftie.”
“the NFL/Taylor crossover is exhausting… I’m the biggest swiftie there is but I’m also a genuine football fan and just want to watch the game,” one fan wrote.
the NFL/Taylor crossover is exhausting… I’m the biggest swiftie there is but I’m also a genuine football fan and just want to watch the game
— Holly Caitlin (@holly_caitlin) October 2, 2023
One person echoed that the NFL’s coverage of Taylor was getting “embarrassing,” while another described the whole thing as “a little ridiculous.”
idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not
nfl has to stop making the these games about taylor like that is so embarrassing for them
also it totally discredits all of the football players who worked hard to be where they’re at
— isabella ᥫ᭡ | GOT NOAH KAHAN TIX (@iknowhauntedd) October 2, 2023