Taylor Swift: Did She Really ‘Ruin’ Football?

Everything Taylor Swift touches turns to gold. But her presence at NFL games has been a bit triggering to some football fans. Ever since the "Anti-Hero" singer began making appearances at stadiums in support of her Kansas City Chiefs star boyfriend, Travis Kelce, there have been loud criticisms of the NFL's coverage of her. The cameras would often pan to her to see her reactions during his games. A month after her first appearance, even Travis stated how he wanted the NFL to turn it down a notch with their coverage of Swift. However, as we previously reported, Kelce's jersey sales spiked nearly 400% since he started dating Swift. His #87  is one of the top five-selling jerseys in the NFL.

Per CBS Sports, StubHub noted nearly three times an increase in ticket sales for Chiefs home games last fall. As Swift showed up to more games, sales kept jumping.  Front Office Sports reported the pop star generated more than $330 million for the NFL and the Chiefs. According to a recent survey by LendingTree, 20% of millennials and 24% of Gen Z'ers said the pop icon's "influence" is making them care about football. Swift's Super Bowl LVIII appearance marked the pop icon's 13th NFL appearance, her favorite number.

(By the way, Swift didn't only help the NFL's bottom line: small businesses like Wove, which made the tennis friendship bracelet seen on Swift's wrist after the AFC Championship Game, saw more than 470% increase in sales. One local chocolate shop's "Love Story #87" Valentine's Day chocolate box led to its best February sales since the shop opened.)

In October, even Dallas Cowboys fan Kelly Clarkson expressed how she is so “over” the NFL spotlighting Swelce’s budding romance. She discussed how the couple’s takeover of the NFL spotlight is a little jarring. Admitting it’s hilarious how commentators talk about it, what she didn't find amusing is how their relationship is "literally taking over the NFL for people that like watching sports now!" She said the discussion of Swelce’s relationship feels like “you’re watching the Housewives. They’re just talking about gossip things — so what about the play? Because they’re taking over!" Meanwhile, Adele came to her defense, saying, "All of you complaining about Taylor being at the games, get a f---ing life. She’s actually made it a bit more enjoyable to watch."

But Clarkson isn't the only one thinking Swift's impact on longtime football fans is annoying. Hall of Fame former coach Tony Dungy said the NFL's coverage of Swift is what is "disenchanting people with sports now," adding, "Entertainment value and different things that's taking away from what really happens on the field." Shane Gillis joked he can't even watch football anymore because the cameras pan to her once or twice during games.

But despite the loud, sad, complaints, the numbers don't lie. Per USA Today, she was shown 12 times during the game, a total of 54 seconds of air time during the live broadcast. That may have "ruined" the game for some. But the numbers don't lie: it was the most-watched televised event in the US since the 1969 moon landing! It's tough to prove that the ratings were due to Swift, but she certainly helped.

As we kick off 2024, many of our favorite musicians are planning to hit the road once again. Some are continuing their tours from last year, expanding dates in cities that have sold out and filling up stadiums for their ever-devoted fans. Gametime has released new data highlighting the most anticipated concert tours of the year based on average ticket price -- and some of the numbers are astounding. It is no surprise that the highest-priced tours belong to Taylor Swift and Adele, as we've covered their past ticket prices being thousands of dollars.

Swift's Eras Tour shows last three-and-a-half hours as she covers all aspects of her career, from country to pop to indie. With her two “surprise songs” each night, fans are always eager to find out what songs she’ll choose for that segment. On top of that, her timing is impeccable for fans “itching for a post-pandemic live music immersive experience.” Another factor is how much Swifties appreciate Taylor’s dedication to her craft: writing all her songs and reclaiming ownership of all of her music by re-recording her discography. Fans have also been buying and streaming the new versions of her old songs and the bonus tracks on her re-recorded versions of her albums. Her tour is expected to pass $1 billion in sales by this March and if that happens, the singer-songwriter will make history.

Then there's Adele, whose Las Vegas residency, Weekends With Adele has reached the finale. With 32 dates, the English singer-songwriter will be at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace from January to June. Known for spending time chatting with her fans and making her way down to the audience, the candid moments during Adele's residency has become well-documented on social media, showing the fun times fans have to see her.

Take a look below at which five music artists have the hottest concert tickets of 2024 so far, based on the prices of their tickets on Gametime.

Kicking off our list of the highest priced tickets of 2024, the "Piano Man" singer will only be performing for 15 dates. However, his average ticket price is $560.07 and he will be all over the globe, starting with a sold-out show in Tokyo, Japan, on January 24. With more sold-out shows sprinkled throughout his scheduled performances, Joel added additional dates to his original ten events. In additon to his Madison Square Garden residency, he will also play Florida, Texas, California, Washington, Illinois, Colorado, Missouri, and Wales.

The "WHERE SHE GOES" singer and rapper will be on his Most Wanted tour, with 47 dates. His median ticket price is $661.01, starting in Utah at the end of February. Bad Bunny will also be making stops in nearly every state: Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Minneapolis, Missouri, Illinois, Ontario, Michigan, Washington, D.C., New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and ending in Florida on May 28.

The "vampire" singer embarks on her GUTS World Tour, with her tickets' median price being $734.17. Rodrigo will be touring the US for 46 dates with accompanying acts Pinkpantheress, The Breeders, Chappell Roan, and Remi Wolf at select cities. The singer will kick off the tour a few days after her 21st birthday in California, before making stops in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Canada, Massachusetts, then New York. She will leave North America for tour dates in Ireland, the UK, Scotland, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Portugal. After a few weeks break, Rodrigo will return to North America for 18 more dates, finally closing out her tour on August 17 in Los Angeles.

Coming in at second place, Adele's continuation and end of her Las Vegas residency boasts $2,079.42 as her median ticket prices to watch her perform live. The "Easy on Me" singer will be performing for 32 dates over the course of 2024, from January 19 to June 15 at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace. She had 24 shows in 23 and the English singer-songwriter is set to outdo herself with the additional dates this year. Reflecting on X (formerly Twitter), the Grammy winner said, "This residency, these shows have changed my life. I desperately needed to fall back in love with performing live again, and I have."

The pop icon's median ticket price for her 2024 Eras Tour is a whopping $3,525.42, having her claim the top spot for highest-priced tickets of the year. With 18 tour dates this year, Swift will be heading all over the globe, making stops at Australia, Japan, Singapore, France, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, then heading back to the US. She will be performing in Florida, Louisiana, and Indiana, before going global once again in Canada, closing out her tour on December 8 in Vancouver.