On Sept. 24, Taylor Swift arrived at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to watch Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs demolish the Chicago Bears 41-10. What started out as simple fun and cheers has since turned to resentment from stadium goers and the general public alike. 

Kelce, the Chiefs star tight end, talked about seeing Swift perform at Arrowhead Stadium while she was on her Eras Tour in July. “I wanted to give Taylor Swift [a friendship bracelet] with my number on it,” Kelce said on his podcast “New Heights.”

Headlines began circulating in speculation of Swift and Kelce’s alleged romantic involvement, although there was still no hard evidence at the time. “Everything Has Changed” since the initial game, when Swift was spotted at the Chiefs game sitting next to Kelce’s mom in his viewing box. 

En route to the Chiefs victory against the Bears on Sept. 24, Kelce caught a touchdown as the camera panned to Swift shouting, “Lets Fucking Go!” The moment spread across social media, uniting Chiefs fans and Swifties all over the world. 

What was supposed to be a regular afternoon game caught the attention of 24.3 million viewers, which is the second most watched game of the season after the NFL’s opening game. According to Front Office Sports, the Chiefs-Bears game saw a 63% increase of female viewers. The NFL even changed their X (formerly known as Twitter) bio to “NFL (Taylor’s Version)” and their TikTok bio to “9/24/23. Taylor was here.” 

After the Arrowhead game, Swifties and National Football League fans seemed to be forming an alliance. However, when Swift appeared at MetLife Stadium for the Jets vs. Chiefs game on Sunday, football fans began to grow tired of the new power couple.

The storyline has even spilled into New School conversations – and even this community has become frustrated with the influx of Taylor Swift content. “It’s crazy how everything I see online has to do with them somehow,” said Vicky Tennant, a third-year Fashion Design major at Parsons School of Design. “She does anything, she blinks and the whole world fawns over it.” 

While spectators are growing frustrated, Swift’s presence has greatly benefited Kelce and the Chiefs’ popularity. Since Swift’s presence at the game, Kelce has gained 600,000 Instagram followers, his jersey sales have seen a 400% increase according to ESPN, and “New Heights” is #1 on Apple Podcasts. However, Swift’s influence and its benefits goes beyond just Kelce.

Tennant also mentioned a Heinz Ketchup rebrand after Swift was seen at the Arrowhead game eating chicken tenders with ketchup and ranch. Heinz jumped on the opportunity to rebrand their “Kranch” condiment into “Ketchup with Seemingly Ranch.” 

“Heinz making a version of their ketchup with ranch that they already had for years and naming it to be a reference to their relationship is absolutely insane, and I know for a fact that their sales have gone up,” said Tennant. 

“Everything that Taylor Swift has been wearing to [Kelce’s] games have been selling out,” Lily Loomis, a third-year Strategic Design and Management major at Parsons said. “It’s created a huge internet frenzy. When she went to one of his games last week, she wore a Reformation top. Reformation has a big stock, it’s not like they’re sold out often. But the top she wore to the game sold out.”

After the matchup with the Bears, the two were seen walking out together and later driving away in Kelce’s convertible. With headlines still emerging, Jason and Travis Kelce addressed it all.  “Shout out to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy,” Travis said. “And then we just slid away in the getaway car at the end,” referencing her hit song “Getaway Car.”

The relationship is not only getting attention from celebrity news outlets, it’s also distracting sports media outlets, which have abandoned discussing football to focus on Kelce and Swift. The NBC Chiefs vs Jets pregame was filled with footage of Swift arriving at the stadium with her friends. Rather than the sports analyst setting the scene for the game, viewers saw clips of the pop star hanging out in her personal box.

Tensions continue to emerge amongst fans as the season continues.

On Oct. 1, the Chiefs and Jets game came down to the wire with the Chiefs winning 23-20 following a little bit of controversy. There were crucial calls the referees made (and didn’t make) that benefited the Chiefs and eventually led to their victory. “Lmaoo maybe if I was a Swiftie, the ref wouldn’t of thrown the flag,” said Jets phenom Sauce Gardner in a tweet that has since been deleted. The Chiefs and Jets game was the most watched game of the season and the most watched Sunday television program since the Super Bowl.  

On “Monday Night Football,” the New York Giants faced off against the Seattle Seahawks. While there was a game break, an advertisement for Swift’s upcoming “Eras Tour” movie came up on the jumbotron. The stadium immediately erupted in boos, expressing their feelings about Swift. Clearly both players and fans are getting tired of Swift’s presence off — and potentially on — the field. 

On Oct. 4, “New Heights” came out with a new episode where Travis and Jason discussed the increase in Travis’ popularity alongside the attention Swift has gotten. Jason started with the question, “Is the NFL overdoing it? What’s your honest opinion?” To which Travis replied, “I think everyone is just, like, overwhelmed.”

While some of The New School students are taking notice of the overwhelming media coverage of Swift and Kelce, other students are tired of the constant presence celebrities have in the media. “I think excess coverage of celebrity relationships is silly,” said Aidan Ward, a third-year Literary Studies major. “But it’s a product of our time.” Ward acknowledged that there will always be celebrities that take over corporations and media, even after Swift and Kelce are long gone from the public eye.