How Taylor Swift Became the Biggest Chiefs Fan - and Will She Be at Sunday Night Football?
Swifties turn out in droves for Taylor… but she shows up for Kansas City football.
The Kansas City Chiefs hit the road for this first time this weekend, heading to Atlanta for their first game of the 2024 NFL season away from Arrowhead Stadium. Set for NBC and Peacock on September 22, it’s a Sunday Night Football match made in NFL heaven, pitting the unbeaten Chiefs against an Atlanta Falcons team surging off the energy of a thrilling last-minute win in Week 2.
Chiefs fans will no doubt be tuned in to see if three-time Super Bowl-winning QB Patrick Mahomes can mount yet another campaign to send this year's team to the big dance. But plenty more will have their eyes (and ears) glued to NBC this weekend for an entirely different reason: to catch a glimpse of the world’s biggest pop star as she cheers on her favorite NFL team.
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Yep, we’re talking about Taylor Swift and her persisting passion for all things red and yellow, not to mention her nine-time Pro Bowling boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (an athlete who, like Mahomes, has three Super Bowl rings of his own). So can Swifties count on Taylor being at this weekend’s Chiefs-Falcons game?
How Taylor Swift became the Kansas City Chiefs’ most famous fan
It’s no secret by now that Swift has turned into a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan. Last season, she showed up at no fewer than 13 Chiefs games, crowned by her appearance at Super Bowl LVIII to witness Kelce, Mahomes, and company defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
Swift was first spied as a spectator at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium in September of 2023, perched in the private suite of the Kelce family — a sure sign that she was already close with Travis (or at least someone in the Kelce loop). She later confirmed that she and Travis Kelce had indeed been dating for a while.
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“[W]e actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other,” she confided to Time in late 2023. “…When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care. The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”
Photos: Taylor Swift rocks her NFL fandom in Chiefs game gear
Saying she’s “proud” of Kelce might just be an understatement. Every time Swift gets the chance to root for her athletic NFL squeeze at an actual game, she’s decked out in Chiefs gear like any die-hard Kansas City fan.
Here’s just a sample of the Chiefs swag Taylor Swift has been spotted rocking in the past, as Kelce’s number-one fan in the stands:
Will Taylor Swift be at the Chiefs-Falcons game for Sunday Night Football?
You want the short answer? We honestly don’t know — and that’s kind of the fun in the (possible) surprise! Kansas City stands undefeated at 2-0 so far this year — and just like the Chiefs, Swift has a perfect 2-0 record of her own when it comes to turning out to support her favorite team in the still-young 2024 NFL season.
NBC and Peacock will feature this weekend’s Chiefs-Falcons matchup on Sunday Night Football, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET. Held in Atlanta, it’s an away game for the Chiefs, and hometown paper the Atlanta Journal-Constitution speculates that the odds are at least favorable for spying Swift (and perhaps even a celebrity sidekick or two) somewhere high above the crowd.
“…[T]here are reasons for fans to think it’s possible — and perhaps even likely,” AJC forecasts of fans’ Swift-spotting chances, citing the megastar’s meticulous Chiefs attendance record all through last season… not to mention the fact that she’s currently on break from her massive Eras Tour, which is set to command more of her time when a fresh slate of U.S. dates kicks off in October.
With or without Swift there to cheer on Kelce and the Chiefs, this weekend’s game is shaping up to be a biggie all on its own. The Chiefs have looked like their familiar Super Bowl-winning selves through the new season’s first pair of games, while the 1-1 Falcons are coming off an enormous last-minute win on the road against Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles.
How can you watch the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football?
Sunday Night Football’s coverage of the September 22 NFL battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons begins Sunday on NBC and Peacock, with Football Night in America set to start the pregame action at 7 p.m. ET. Kickoff will follow from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium — a place that Swift herself has been known to pack to the rafters — starting at 8:20 p.m. ET.
