Taylor Swift's Impact On The NFL And Super Bowl

Forbes

Forbes contributor Leonard Armato joins Brittany Lewis on "Forbes Talks" to discuss Taylor Swift's impact on the NFL.   Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leonardarmato/2024/01/28/chiefs-49ers-super-bowl-and-taylor-swift-nfl-script-conspiracy-theory/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:03 - Hi everybody, I'm Brittany Lewis

00:04 with Forbes Breaking News.

00:06 Joining me now is Forbes contributor, Leonard Armato.

00:08 Leonard, thanks so much for joining me.

00:11 - Hi Brittany, good to see you again.

00:13 - Good to see you as well.

00:14 And I'm excited for our conversation today

00:16 because it's really two worlds colliding

00:19 this football season with Taylor Swift

00:21 hitting the stands to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelsey.

00:24 So first, before we dive into the conversation,

00:26 what did you make of this crossover over the season?

00:31 - Well, it's massive.

00:32 I mean, it's huge for the NFL.

00:34 It's even big for her because, I mean,

00:36 how do you get bigger than Taylor Swift?

00:37 It's kind of hard, but she seems to figure out ways

00:41 to just keep expanding her presence,

00:43 her likability, her brand.

00:45 So I would say she's a marketing genius.

00:47 - I wanna read you a number because when I heard it,

00:51 I mean, my eyes popped out of my head.

00:53 According to reporting from Front Office Sports,

00:56 Taylor Swift, quote, has generated an equivalent brand value

01:00 of $331.5 million for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL.

01:05 You said she was a marketing genius.

01:07 So how exactly do you think she was able to do this?

01:11 - Well, I mean, her association with Kelsey and the Chiefs

01:15 is what does it, and she's the biggest star in the world.

01:17 So that's the impact.

01:18 I mean, I think their merchandise sales went up by 400%.

01:22 The brand value went up tremendously.

01:25 But if you think about it,

01:26 viewership for all the NFL games are going up in a big way.

01:29 In fact, people were predicting

01:30 that this would be the biggest Super Bowl ever,

01:33 'cause I don't know if you heard this, Brittany,

01:34 but she's actually playing in a concert in Tokyo, Japan

01:38 on Saturday night and the Super Bowl's on Sunday.

01:41 So everybody was predicting

01:42 if she was gonna be there or not.

01:43 And I think the prevailing theory

01:47 is that she will in fact be there

01:48 because Japan's an hour ahead, excuse me, a whole day ahead,

01:52 and she can finish her concert at midnight in Japan

01:54 and get back by Saturday night in Las Vegas

01:57 to be at the Super Bowl.

01:59 So I think the odds are that Taylor Swift

02:01 will be at the Super Bowl watching her boyfriend play.

02:05 - Yeah, that was fun to track that.

02:07 Other things like the flight names going into Las Vegas

02:11 are named, kind of cheekily giving a reference

02:15 to Taylor Swift.

02:16 And the scenes from the Chiefs AFC Championship game

02:19 were really like straight out of a rom-com after

02:21 with her going down onto the field.

02:23 So how good do you think Taylor Swift is

02:25 for the NFL overall?

02:27 - I mean, she's amazing for the NFL.

02:29 I mean, there's no question about it.

02:31 I mean, and the stats don't lie.

02:32 You already gave me a few stats as to how everything was up.

02:36 You know, the value was up, the merchandise is up,

02:39 viewership is up, everything is up.

02:41 I think the fun part is to kind of fantasize

02:43 about how scripted this really is.

02:46 I mean, we could take a little trip down fantasy lane

02:49 if you want, but that's sort of the fun thing to talk about.

02:52 - No, absolutely, and that's what I was going to get to next

02:54 because really some NFL Taylor Swift conspiracy theories

02:58 have been emerging over the last weeks

03:00 as we head into the Super Bowl.

03:02 Can you tell us what they are?

03:05 - Well, there's a whole bunch of fun theories.

03:06 And first of all, let me just start by saying this.

03:09 I don't believe that anything involving the outcome

03:12 of an NFL game is ever, ever, ever scripted.

03:16 I think the leagues have too much on the line

03:19 in terms of preserving their integrity.

03:21 And I've been around commissioners of leagues

03:23 for a long time, and there's no way they ever want

03:26 to have the outcome of the game be predetermined

03:29 because sports is the ultimate, let's call it reality.

03:33 And people want to see the team that they love win

03:37 based on something that is not predetermined.

03:39 There's no question.

03:40 So just understand they don't believe that.

03:42 But as far as the relationship with Taylor Swift

03:45 and Kelsey go, it's kind of fun to think about,

03:47 well, maybe she got together with Rodney Goodell

03:50 and thought maybe if I dated a football player,

03:52 that might be good for my brand.

03:53 And he thought, well, it'd be good for my brand

03:55 if the biggest star in the world

03:56 were dating a football player.

03:57 And they figured out that Kelsey

03:58 was the perfect vehicle to do that.

04:00 But the truth is, I think that

04:03 they really do like each other.

04:04 I think they did secretly date

04:07 to make sure they really liked each other

04:08 before their coming out party.

04:10 But I think that Taylor Swift

04:11 is such a brilliant marketer.

04:13 She did the coming out party in a very strategic way.

04:16 Sit next to the mom, in the box,

04:18 the camera pans to her and wait for your boyfriend

04:20 after the game, show support.

04:23 I'm dating a football hero.

04:24 My Swifties will love that.

04:26 So I think it's all kind of fun.

04:29 - Definitely.

04:29 And it's the all-American story, really.

04:31 I mean, she's America's sweetheart,

04:34 dating a star in the NFL.

04:35 I mean, you couldn't write a movie better than this.

04:38 And something that I really like looking at social media

04:41 is seeing all of these videos

04:44 with little girls suddenly being interested in football

04:47 because of Taylor Swift watching with their dad.

04:50 So do you think that this sort of Taylor Swift effect

04:54 will have an everlasting impact on the NFL?

04:57 Or is it a season only?

04:59 Or as long as the Swift relationship goes with Kelsey,

05:03 do you think it'll last that long?

05:04 What do you think that looks like?

05:06 - Well, like you said, it's already enlisted new fans.

05:10 I mean, little girls seeing this and wanting to watch.

05:14 And once you're introduced to a sport,

05:16 sometimes you fall in love with it

05:17 if you're favorably inclined.

05:20 So I think it will have a long-term effect.

05:22 Whether she and Kelsey last or not,

05:24 that's yet to be determined.

05:25 Although they seem like a good match.

05:27 One thing we know for certain,

05:28 if the relationship doesn't last,

05:30 she's gonna write a song about it.

05:32 (laughing)

05:34 - So there's probably content coming out of this either way,

05:38 whether we see more games,

05:39 more footage of her in that suite, perhaps a love song.

05:42 Hopefully, we're all rooting for a love song,

05:44 not a breakup song, right?

05:46 - Yes, yes, yes, a love song.

05:48 And if you think about it,

05:49 all the photos and the little video clips are so perfect.

05:52 I mean, he scores touchdowns

05:54 in the NFC Championship game.

05:56 I mean, who would have thought he'd like raise his game,

05:58 you know, at the championship

06:00 so that he could cut to the box and show her cheering,

06:02 so they could show her on the field kissing him afterwards,

06:05 so they could capture him saying, "I love you."

06:07 I mean, it's like, oh my gosh,

06:08 you couldn't have scripted it better.

06:10 It works great.

06:11 It is, like you said, a perfect rom-com.

06:15 - And a lot of Swifties I've seen,

06:17 obviously, really like this.

06:19 Some people who are NFL fans are kind of sick of it.

06:22 What do you make of that?

06:24 - I just think that, you know,

06:26 everybody's got something to say.

06:28 I mean, at the end of the day, it's great for the NFL.

06:30 And somebody might say,

06:31 "Oh, I don't care about Taylor Swift,"

06:33 or "He was already a star before she became involved."

06:36 And there's a lot of people

06:38 that maybe don't like Taylor Swift.

06:40 I mean, it's possible.

06:41 I mean, she's America's sweetheart,

06:43 but maybe some curmudgeons don't like her.

06:46 But that doesn't take away from the massive following

06:48 that she has and her image,

06:50 and the fact that she's absolutely great

06:52 for the Chiefs, for the game.

06:54 She's great for Kelsey, too, by the way.

06:56 I mean, his popularity has skyrocketed as well.

06:58 So it's the Taylor Swift effect.

07:00 It's huge.

07:01 - And I remember at the beginning of this season,

07:05 once she was spotted at the game initially,

07:08 a lot of people, a fun internet trend

07:10 that went viral on social media,

07:12 were people asking,

07:14 "Hey, did Taylor Swift put Travis Kelsey on the map?"

07:18 Do you think that she did?

07:19 - No, she didn't put him on the map.

07:22 She just made that map that much more visible

07:25 to millions and millions and millions of people.

07:28 If you think about it, think about it.

07:30 I mean, Travis Kelsey was already an NFL star.

07:33 So NFL football fans knew who he was,

07:36 and he was a star player.

07:37 He was always really a good player.

07:39 But when Taylor Swift and Kelsey started dating,

07:43 he went into the stratosphere.

07:44 Like his jersey sales went up massively.

07:48 He started appearing in every television commercial.

07:50 Haven't you watched TV and seen Kelsey commercial

07:52 after Kelsey commercial after Kelsey commercial?

07:55 And probably the companies

07:57 that maybe did a Kelsey commercial

07:58 doubled down on those commercials

08:00 and started playing them more and more and more.

08:01 So I just think it's had a huge effect on him.

08:04 And by the way, think about what he's gonna do next.

08:06 I just saw a conspiracy theory

08:07 that he's gonna retire after winning the Super Bowl

08:11 and go into acting and become the next action hero.

08:14 (both laughing)

08:16 - Well, what do you think about the Super Bowl?

08:18 It is coming up.

08:19 Any predictions there?

08:21 What can we look out for?

08:23 - Well, I've been writing a series of articles

08:24 about poor Brock Purdy, you know,

08:26 because he makes $870,000,

08:30 which is like the lowest paid quarterback in the NFL.

08:33 And he's been outperforming all these quarterbacks,

08:35 making $50 million or so.

08:36 So I kind of like rooting for the underdog in this instance.

08:40 And, you know, I have said the 49ers

08:43 should just rip up Purdy's contract

08:44 and just give him a really great deal

08:46 because he's led them to the Super Bowl

08:48 through a lot of adversity and a lot of criticism.

08:50 So my prediction, I don't know, I don't have a prediction,

08:53 but like I said, I like to root for the underdog

08:56 and it'll be fun to watch no matter what,

08:57 but hey, get to see Taylor Swift.

08:59 I'm sure I'll see her on the Super Bowl for sure.

09:02 We get to see if Purdy can overcome the obstacles

09:04 and beat the champions and it'll be a fun Super Bowl.

09:07 Probably gonna be a record crowd watching it.

09:09 I think they're predicting like 130 million people

09:12 because of the Taylor Swift effect.

09:15 - I'm sure, so fingers crossed

09:16 that her flight does not get delayed.

09:19 Leonard Armato, thank you so much.

09:20 - It won't get delayed because she has her own private jet

09:22 and she can take off anytime she wants.

09:25 - Absolutely, you're right there.

09:27 Leonard Armato, thank you so much for joining me.

09:30 - Okay, thank you.

09:31 It was great to see you, Brittany, take care.

09:33 (upbeat music)

09:36 (upbeat music)

09:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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