Pop music Icon Taylor Swift began dating Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce last season. Swift and Kelce are the cream of the crop in their respective crafts. Naturally, the coverage of the hottest new celebrity couple has been massive. Swift being the NFL’s newest super fan has introduced an entire new fan demographic to football.
But some fans are displeased, complaining about the amount of air time the NFL has devoted to showing the Grammy winner. But a new report showed that Swift was only on screen for 54 seconds of the Super Bowl. Less than 1% of the event’s air time. Fans sounded off on the new report.
“Not surprised men think 54 seconds is a long time,” one user on Twitter said.
“A person that doesn’t play football was barely shown on a broadcast of a football game,” another user said.
“If you think 54 seconds is a long time, that’s a deeper issue,” another user added.
NFL Producer Sounds Off on Taylor Swift
Some fans may be against the camera shots of Swift during the game. But the stats don’t lie. Since she has started attending games, the NFL’s viewership has increased astronomically. Legendary NFL producer Fred Gaudelli, who has produced seven Super Bowls says that she and other celebrities being on camera are just as important.
“You have these shots set up because they’re part of the story of the game and because there are five times as many people (watching) as you would get for a normal game. Right off the bat, you’re already thinking about who’s at the game,” he added.
“Now you have Taylor Swift, who also is someone that has a direct connection to the game because she’s a significant other of one of the stars of a team. Maybe you don’t show her for every Kelce sequence, but she’s going to be part of sequences when he makes a play.”
Stephen A. Smith Declares Allegiance to Pop Star
With Swift and Kelce being the hottest new item, naturally, she gained some unexpected new fans from the sports world. One of those new fans is one of the biggest personalities in sports media. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith recently admitted to being a Swiftie and attending one of her concerts. Swift says the show was “phenomenal.’
“I went to her concert. Man, it was off the chain. I loved it. I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. She was phenomenal,” Smith said.
“I watched Taylor Swift receive a nine-minute standing ovation in between songs. No one was sitting down, the concert was three and a half hours, non-stop, and there was no intermission. I stood up for three and a half hours. I never sat down.”