NYT: Travis Kelce only had relative fame before he started seeing Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s weeks-long relationship is now being covered by the paper of record, the New York Times. Instead of going to a Nazi diner in Ohio to see what Trump supporters think of the Swift-Kelce alliance, the Times took a different tack: “Travis Kelce Was a Star. Taylor Swift Put Him in Another Orbit.” It’s true! The football guys don’t want to admit it, but it’s true. Travis Kelce was a huge NFL star and every football fan in America knew his name. But “dating Taylor Swift” has him in a completely different level of global stardom.

Despite Kelce’s relative fame in the sports world, becoming part of the frenzied conversation around Swift’s every move is another ballgame. Kelce now has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. Swift has 273 million.

“This puts him on a completely different plane from where he was as a celebrity,” said Daniel Durbin, a professor of communication at the University of Southern California. “This is celebrity on steroids, and it has a powerful impact.”

That Kelce and Swift were in the same stadium this weekend brought together two fandoms that don’t often overlap. A spokesman for Fanatics, the N.F.L.’s official retailer, said that sales of Kelce’s jersey had spiked by 400 percent as of Monday.

Coaches and players from across the N.F.L. also took notice. Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach known for gruff answers to reporters’ questions, said on a radio show that “Travis Kelce’s had a lot of big catches in his career — this would be the biggest.” The star Cowboys defender Micah Parsons posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that one woman “can change your life!!!”

[From The NY Times]

That Instagram follower count is telling – while a football player having 3.2 million followers is HUGE, it really is nothing compared to Taylor’s cultural ubiquity. Not only did the Kelce jersey sell out – Swifties wanted to own the exact one Taylor wore to the game – the Chiefs game also had huge TV ratings, with 24.3 million tuning in, especially once Fox put the camera on Taylor.

Meanwhile, Taylor didn’t leave Kansas City until Tuesday – she was spotted boarding one of her private planes at Kansas City International Airport, with her security people in tow. So… she spent a few nights in Kansas City. I wonder what she and Travis did on Monday.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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