NFL Fans Suspect Taylor Swift to Be the Reason Behind KC Chiefs’ Playoff Slot
Jan 7, 2024; Beverly Hills, CA, USA; Taylor Swift at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, airing live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California Mandatory Credit: Sonja Flemming/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK
With the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL has rolled out the schedule for the wildcard round. Chiefs Nation feared the worst a few weeks back that their team would have to play on the road, but following a series of events, the defending champs are now set to host the Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium in less than a week. The anticipation remained palpable until it was announced that the bout would be broadcast only on Peacock. This has sparked quite a ruckus on social media, and both fans and pundits are blaming Taylor Swift for it.
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Football analyst Warren Sapp recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to report on the Chiefs’ upcoming matchup on Saturday. He quipped in the caption how Roger Goodell is making all the Swifties pay for a new subscription to watch the Chiefs game, and it was quite the ‘power move’.
Since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romance news broke out in September, it’s no secret that the league has garnered significant newfound attention from her fans. The Chiefs’ jersey sales, ticket sales, and even local-area businesses saw a spike in revenue in the past few months. So, it’s very much understandable why the league would pull off such a stunt. Or at least, that’s what the pundits are saying. The Bussing with the Boys podcast page also took to X and shared their reaction to the whole thing.
CFB Home reported the same news but asserted the theory that the league put the Chiefs’ matchup on Peacock to get the Swifties to buy the subscriptions.
This development has taken the NFL world off guard, and they haven’t shied away from voicing their two cents. While some were very discontent with how the league isn’t ‘loyal’ to their fans, others expressed how Taylor Swift fans will gladly pay that amount to catch a glimpse of the 12-time Grammy winner. If that’s not enough — the payout for this game to be hosted on Peacock is expected to be a whopping amount.
Is Taylor Swift Helping the NFL Get a Big Payout?
According to Ari Meirov on X, Peacock is paying in the range of $110 million to exclusively broadcast the playoff matchup between the Chiefs and the Dolphins. Moreover, Meirov noted in his report how his comment section has been very unhappy with this.
One of the fans noted in the comments, “Peacock is paying $110 million to make everyone hate them? ”
This fan asserted, “Will be the least watched playoff game in recent history.”
Another chimed in and wrote, “Yeah we aren’t paying for peacock.”
A disappointed fan remarked, “We shouldn’t have to pay extra money to watch playoff football.”
Lastly, this fan wrote, “Taylor Swift fans have to pay up.”
As we have now cleared the fan sentiment around the whole thing, it’s worth noting that this streaming deal was signed back in May, and it also marked the first time the NFL agreed to such a deal. This deal was simple — the matchup would be on Wildcard Weekend and the first weekend of the playoffs. This deal was signed mere weeks after the league shook hands with YouTube for the NFL Sunday Ticket, according to Forbes.
So is this all a coincidence that the Chiefs fell exactly in a place that Peacock would want? Whatever it is, and however the fans feel, it can be said with certainty that this matchup will have an exceptional viewer count nonetheless. The defending champs aren’t the most favored to win the Super Bowl this season, but they are the ones who will get a matchup before any other teams with better odds for the championship. The Bills, with better odds than the Chiefs, will play on the same day, but after exactly 17 hours.
