Current:Home > MarketsTrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Taylor Swift simply being at NFL playoff games has made the sport better. Deal with it. -Capitatum
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Taylor Swift simply being at NFL playoff games has made the sport better. Deal with it.
EchoSense View
Date:2025-04-07 13:41:11
Listen,TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center it’s Sunday and the NFL playoffs are in full swing. Let us not waste time with the pleasantries of me trying to build up to a big reveal of what this column is about.
Besides, the headline does that. I will just get right to it.
Taylor Swift isn’t ruining the NFL or football, despite what some of you and actual Hall of Famers claim. She’s too busy to bother with that. And she may well be too busy this weekend living her best life in a luxury stadium box, cheering on boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs as they play the Buffalo Bills, to worry about whether NFL fans' fragile emotions will survive her apparent happiness.
In fact, the truth is that she is saving the NFL from itself.
The NFL was being ruined before Taylor Swift
The league and the people who run it have done everything they can in recent years to ruin the sport and to take advantage of the fandom along the way.
From bush league refereeing to random rule changes that impact everything from kickoffs to the kind of socks players can wear, there is a lengthy list that points to why the game has lost much of what made it fun to watch.
This doesn't include how fans were made to download the NBC Peacock app to watch a playoff game or that the average NFL ticket price has reached $377.
Who made the NFL playoffs?Gen Z doesn't care. And that's the problem.
The Taylor Swift effect is boosting the NFL
Meanwhile, Swift is single-handedly reversing the decline in the NFL's fun meter. Let us review.
Forbes reported in November that Swift's attendance led to the most viewership for a Sunday night game since the Super Bowl. Since. The. Super. Bowl.
She also helped grow female viewership, ushering significant increases across several age groups. You might not like it, but that’s an important demographic the NFL has catered to for years. She made that easier.
MarketWatch reported in October that Swift helped to add $122 million to the NFL's brand value. That means her presence alone added a spike in value to one of the most valuable entertainment entities in the world.
'Asset Tay':Fox News' Jesse Watters ruins Taylor Swift psy-op unit meant to reelect Biden
Let's hope for a Taylor Swift jersey
That is right sports fans, your cherished and revered tradition of yelling at teams that don't care about you over games that have zero impact on your life got a popularity lift from a female superstar. She made your sport more popular and relevant. Not the other way around.
And while you’re yelling at the screen during the Chiefs playoff game, think of this: If the NFL were to put out an honorary Taylor Swift jersey, it would outsell every other jersey in sports entertainment.
If NFL officials were smart, they’d also do friendship bracelets for the rest of us to wear while you lot are complaining about all the camera shots of Swift and her friends dancing in the stadium box.
So as you prepare for another round of playoffs and sit down to watch your teams win or lose, know that Taylor Swift will be doing her best to save your sport, despite your wishes that she would just go away.
Louie Villalobos is deputy opinion editor for USA TODAY.
veryGood! (91866)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Neighbor's shifting alibis lead to arrest in Mass. woman's disappearance, police say
- Caitlin Clark returns to action Sunday: How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Atlanta Dream
- Hunter Woodhall wins Paralympic sprint title to join his wife as a gold medalist
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' spoilers! Let's unpack that wild ending, creative cameo
- Broncos celebrate the safety dance in the first half with pair of safeties against the Seahawks
- Tom Brady's NFL broadcasting career is finally starting. What should fans expect?
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- When is US Open men's final? How to watch Taylor Fritz vs Jannik Sinner
Ranking
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Caitlin Clark on Angel Reese's season-ending wrist injury: 'It's definitely devastating'
- How many teams make the NFL playoffs? Postseason format for 2024 season
- Former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory dead after car crash in New Mexico
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Russell Wilson's injury puts Justin Fields in as Steelers' starting QB vs. Falcons
- YouTuber Nikocado Avocado Debuts 250-Lb. Weight Loss Transformation
- Rap megastar Kendrick Lamar will headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Multiple people shot along I-75 south of Lexington, Kentucky, authorities say
Parrots and turtles often outlive their owners. Then what happens?
Go inside Kona Stories, a Hawaiian bookstore with an ocean view and three cats
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Elton John unveils new documentary and shares what he wants on his tombstone
After 26 years, a Border Patrol agent has a new role: helping migrants
Ella Travolta honors late mom Kelly Preston in new song, shares old home videos