I like Taylor Swift a lot. I think she makes really solid music and I listen to it relatively consistently for an early 20s dude. I applaud her for the immense success she’s had with her music and recent tours (that I cannot justifiably afford). I am a Taylor Swift fan.
I just wish the NFL would shut the fuck up.
I understand that Taylor Swift is huge for business. I understand that Travis Kelce jersey sales and Instagram followers have skyrocketed since they’ve started seeing each other. I understand that leaning into the Taylor Swift thing is an attempt to draw in the mobs of Swifties who might not have otherwise watched the NFL. I get it. I really do.
It’s time to give it a rest, though.
On Sunday Night Football, Zach Wilson and a struggling Jets team took the field to take on the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL treated this as a huge party, showing off Taylor Swift and her barrage of celebrity companions in her booth, and the commentators and sportsbooks made sure that they missed no opportunity to reference Swift. It was like a big party for the NFL.
That is, until Zach “Skim MILF” Wilson shit in their punch bowl.
What many (including yours truly) expected to be a blowout all the sudden had turned into a game where the underdog Jets were primed for an opportunity to get the ball to drive and win the game, ruining the Taylor-centric celebration. Unfortunately, some lackluster (at best) or corrupt (at worst) officiating kept the Chiefs on the field twice, and helped them run out the clock. An egregious missed holding call on a Mahomes 3rd and 20 scramble and a questionably late defensive holding call on a Jets interception all but ensured the Chiefs party kept rolling.
Now, I’m not here to accuse the NFL of rigging games; that would be a very serious claim. What I am here to say is that the Taylor Swift promotion turned into a really bad look after the game, with the NFL promoting Mahomes and Kelce jerseys front and center on their Twitter profile with a Taylor Swift header picture, and adding “chiefs are 2-0 as swifties” to their instagram bio.
Again, I understand why they’d want to lean into the Taylor Swift thing. This is bad optics, though. Immediately after a game that was questionably officiated, the league blatantly showed increased attention and total focus on the team that clearly benefited from the late-game calls, way beyond the focus that would usually be directed towards a Sunday Night Football winner. Making it seem like the league is obviously favoring a team when there’s clearly a ratings incentive behind them is bad for the game, even if it brings a new audience. Even if there were no Taylor Swift boost to consider, it would be a pretty bad look. The governing league should not blatantly favor any team, especially outwardly, because it brings the legitimacy of the game into question for many, and it just hurts the product.
Again, I really like Taylor Swift, but you’re the fucking NFL. You’re the biggest sports league in the world. You do not need to pander to a new audience to succeed and grow. I promise you, the Swifties will latch on to anything Taylor is involved in regardless if you kiss her ass or not. And once the initial Taylor hype is gone, the percentage of the new fans that may have just been watching because of Taylor that actually sticks with watching the NFL will not be worth this embarrassing display.
It’s time for the NFL to be the NFL. You’re a sports league, not People Magazine. Act like it.