Taylor Swift has received numerous comments, including praise and outrage, from NFL fans since she began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last year and became a fixture in the stands. But fans aren’t the only ones with opinions about Swift’s presence in the game.
The majority of players are included. athletic‘s 2024 Anonymous NFL Player Poll (72.5% to be exact) said the pop star’s interest in the game (and the resulting coverage) has been positive for the league. Only 4.9% of players polled thought of it negatively, while 22.5% thought it was neither negative nor positive.
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The Swift-NFL partnership was one of many topics. athletic‘s beat writers surveyed the players who will be on this year’s ballot, with 102 votes cast on the topic. Players were granted anonymity to speak freely about issues affecting the league.
“I think it’s had a positive impact on the league,” one player said. “I think we should pay as much attention as possible because it is a business at the end of the day. And she has a lot of eyes, so I don’t think anyone will be too upset about it if the salary cap increases.”
Another player who voted “positive” noted that “a lot of Swifties who didn’t watch football are now watching it.”
“It’s always good to get more people involved in the game of football.” the player said.
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Another player in the “positive” voting camp said, “More fans, broader perspective.” “She has a fan base all over the world. “Even people who aren’t soccer fans will become fans, or at least viewers, in America.”
Conversely, players who highlighted “negative” elements suggested that it discouraged viewers from engaging with the sport.
“I think she gets unnecessary press,” said one player who voted on the “negative” side. “There was a video posted on Twitter of the entire NFL opening season, and she appeared five times and our quarterback didn’t appear once. That’s not right either. She’s not in the NFL.”
Football is back this week 🏈 🚨 pic.twitter.com/YVR8kbZnfm
— NFL (@NFL) September 2, 2024
Another player who voted ‘no’ said it was because he felt ‘a lot of people were talking about it more than the football game’.
Others viewed Swift’s presence in the game both positively and negatively.
“It’s bringing more interest to the game,” one player said, “but I feel like they’re using her face.” If she’s in the game, she’ll probably show it six or seven times. People get bored if they do that over and over again. So I think they have to find a balance.”
“There are both positive and negative aspects,” said another player. “The reason I say that is because she has a huge impact on a generation of young women and making them learn about sports. … The negative is that there are all the true football fans out there who are tired of watching it. I’m glad that engagement is up, but if I were a Chiefs fan, I wouldn’t be going out of my way to watch Taylor Swift every time a commercial or timeout comes on. We know she’s there.”
Other players didn’t care, as did some fans. “I’m going to improvise to Taylor Swift, but I don’t care if she’s in the game or not,” one player said.
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(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
