The Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-20 win over the New York Jets on Sunday was the most watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl with an average of 27 million TV viewers, including millions of teenage girls who tuned into the game attended by pop star Taylor Swift, NBC Sports said on Monday.
A rumored relationship between Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has sent interest skyrocketing in Super Bowl champion Kansas City. In another sign of “the Swift effect,” sales of Kelce’s jersey surged after Swift’s appearance at his Week 3 home game.
Swift brought several celebrity friends to her luxury box digs at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to watch the Chiefs eke out the nail-biting victory, as fans once again reveled in her appearance on social media.
Photo: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY
Viewership among teen girls aged 12 to 17 spiked 53 percent from the season-to-date average for Sunday Night Football, part of an approximate increase of more than 2 million female viewers, NBC Sports said in a news release.
The audience among women aged 18-24 was up 24 percent.
The broadcast featured ads for the forthcoming concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and on several occasions cut to Swift, who cheered on the Kansas City team enthusiastically, while commentators made references to her song lyrics.
The Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears the previous week was the most-watched show of that week with 24.3 million viewers, also scoring first among female audiences.
On Sunday, Swift’s presence doubled ticket sales on StubHub for, while Kelce’s jersey sales shot up by nearly 400 percent.
The amount of money bet on Kelce through DraftKings more than doubled over the weekend after rumors he is dating Swift.
The dollar value bet on Kelce’s performance on Sunday was twice his two prior games combined, an e-mailed statement from DraftKings said.
The NFL is capitalizing on Swift’s attendance. It changed the banner of its page on X, formerly known as Twitter, to show her cheering at a game, and its Instagram page biography said “chiefs are 2-0 as swifties” on Monday.
Not everyone appreciated the update, as it spun conspiracy theorists into a tizzy, especially after a controversial holding call on Sunday against Jets cornerback Saucer Gardner.
“Lmaoo maybe if I was a swiftie, the ref wouldn’t of threw the flag,” Gardner wrote on X.
Last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year then edited the post to say: “Lmaoo maybe if I was a swiftie then ...nvm.”
The post was later deleted.
The NFL also removed the reference to Swift from its social media profiles.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and AP
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Steve Smith yesterday announced his retirement from one-day international (ODI) cricket after captaining Australia to a semi-final exit at the ICC Champions Trophy, bringing down the curtain on a career in the format that included two ICC World Cup wins. The 35-year-old batsman, who was his team’s top scorer with 73 as Australia lost to India by four wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would still be available for selection for T20 internationals and Test matches. “It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it,” Smith said in a Cricket Australia statement. “There have been so
RSS