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
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
RSS