Hallmark Channel is capitalizing on the world-famous romance between Kansas City-based music star Taylor Swift and football player Travis Kelce to capitalize on the lucrative Christmas TV movie season.
For more than a decade, viewers have enjoyed the cable channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” themed programming, dozens of budget movies that begin their release in mid-October and are shown around the clock. On Saturday, Hallmark bolstered its lineup with “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story,” one of two cable TV movies coming this season inspired by Swift and Kelce’s relationship.
In the Hallmark Channel movie, Hunter King plays a young woman who tries to help her family win the Kansas City Chiefs’ “Fan of the Year” contest. She meets the team executive, played by Tyler Hynes, who is in charge of evaluating contestants. Following the Hallmark script, the two soon experience warm and cozy feelings.
Since “Holiday Touchdown” is a partnership between Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs, the film also captures the real-life phenomenon of multigenerational relationships bound by the shared love of the Chiefs.
The movie was filmed in the Kansas City area last summer, including GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Card company Hallmark has long called Kansas City its home.
“We are very grateful to the entire Hallmark team and the unique hometown partnership that has formed around our two brands and this film,” Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said in a September statement announcing the partnership. “I’m doing it,” he said.
Hallmark Media, which operates the television portfolio, is headquartered in Studio City.
The film is decked out in red and gold and includes cameos from Chiefs players and coach Andy Reid. There is also a small role for Donna Kelce, the mother of a football player and celebrity. On Friday, she was photographed with Swift as the two headed to Arrowhead Stadium to watch the NFL’s dominant team beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
The film also stars Jenna Bush Hager, Diedrich Bader, Megyn Price, Richard Riehle, Christine Ebersole, and Richard Christy.
Made-for-TV holiday movies have become some of the most reliable and profitable staples in the industry.
Networks, including Hallmark and Lifetime, produce dozens of holiday-themed movies each year, joining beloved evergreens like “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Home Alone” and “A Christmas Story” in syndication.
Hallmark’s other holiday-themed movies include “Christmas in the ’90s,” “Sugarplummed,” “Following Yonder Star” and “Happy Howlidays.”
Last week, rival Lifetime debuted a holiday product loosely based on the Swift-Kelce romance. “Christmas in the Spotlight” stars Jessica Lorde as a pop star who falls in love with a football player played by Laith Wallschleger after they meet backstage at a concert.
