NBC’s Sunday Night Football Enjoys a ‘Swift Lift’

Is it true romance? A PR stunt? Just two adults spending time together? One thing is for sure: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are capturing a lot of attention these days as rumors swirl and fans scour the media for clues. 

One entity that’s already reaping benefits is NBC: Swift’s attendance at the Oct. 1 game that saw her supposed beau and his fellow Chiefs face off against the Jets helped drive Sunday Night Football’s viewership share up from 9.84% to 11.46% (of all Sunday TV watch-time) week-over-week, according to data from Inscape. And with the previous few SNF games all having big fan bases as well, it’s safe to say that the Taylor effect is real.

The network seemed pleased to milk the situation, frequently training cameras toward Swift, who was in a VIP suite with other celebrities. She was also present on the advertising side of things, appearing in a commercial for Capital One Venture X Card that aired during the game and received 16.9 million TV ad impressions, per iSpot. The movie trailer for “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” also ran during gametime, racking up 17.9 million impressions.  

Travis Kelce has been getting in on the advertising action as well. Sportico, citing iSpot data, explains that he’s currently featured in TV ads for Lowe’s, State Farm, DirecTV, Pfizer and Campbell’s Soup, notching 1.42 billion TV ad impressions since the start of the NFL season. One of his spots for State Farm also aired during the Sunday night game, receiving 18.1 million TV ad impressions. 

Kelce is also featured in social media activations with brands including Experian, Drink Accelerator, Pfizer, State Farm and Lowe’s. According to data from creator marketing platform CreatorIQ, he’s seen notable growth in his own social media audiences lately: His Instagram followers have grown by nearly 39% since August, and his current engagement rate on the platform is 9.43%, which CreatorIQ considers “excellent.” On TikTok, Kelce’s audience has skyrocketed 149% since August, with a “good” engagement rate of 6.59%.