When Taylor Swift's NFL adventure began in earnest at a Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears on September 24, the reaction from the Fox broadcast team, and much of the NFL world at large, was summed up by Erin Andrews, a veteran of the band. reporter.
“We all need to calm down,” Andrews said, shortly after Travis Kelce scored a touchdown in the second half.
Ms. Andrews was giving a nod to one of Ms. Swift's songs, but also acknowledging how surprised she and her colleagues were to have the world's biggest pop star at Arrowhead Stadium to see her new love interest, Mr. Kelce. play for the Chiefs. Greg Olsen, the broadcast's lead analyst, even went so far as to boast that Swift had once liked one of her tweets.
While Swift's presence dramatically expanded the audience for Chiefs games (Nielsen Media Research estimated that another two million women watched the Kansas City game on October 1), some negative reactions were inevitable. Ms. Swift joked about “pissing off some dads, Brads and Chads” in her Time Person of the Year profile, but she had run out of one-liners (and facial expressions) when comedian Jo Koy, in a disastrous hosting of the Golden Globes, said: “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? At the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift.”
Koy soon went on a media tour defending the joke as a criticism of streaming, not Swift. But the reality was that the awards ceremony sequence took 16 seconds to play, which was more time than CBS had spent showing Ms. Swift at either of the last two Chiefs games she had previously attended. of that night.
And that dissonance between how many times Ms. Swift is shown and how many times people seem to think she is shown has continued despite the reality that she typically appears on screen for less than 25 seconds over the course of of transmissions lasting more than three. hours and her name is rarely mentioned.
Rob Hyland, coordinating producer of NBC's Sunday Night Football broadcasts, has covered two games Ms. Swift attended: the Jets-Chiefs game on Oct. 1 and the Packers-Chiefs game on Dec. 3 , and said that his team is preparing. a lot because of how they cover it, but that everything falls apart if the game gets interesting.
“There's always a balance between what's happening on the field and how you can improve what's happening on the field,” said Hyland, who challenged dissatisfied viewers to name any aspect of the games they missed as a result of the cuts. “It wasn't like, 'Hey, let's show him this a lot.' It was, 'Hey, when appropriate, let's remind the audience that she's there.'”
Hyland's team spent the lead-up to the Jets game, which was just a week after Swift and Kelce's public relationship, frantically trying to find out if Swift would attend, even going so far as to have a spotter plane. Looking for police escorts in the area. But a close game led to most of his preparation being scrapped in favor of game action (and at least six cuts to Aaron Rodgers, the injured Jets quarterback, sitting in his own suite ).
Two months later, NBC showed her only once during the Packers game broadcast, largely because the novelty of the relationship had begun to wear off.
A close look at the games that have aired since Christmas reveals familiar coverage patterns that have Swift fans hoping to see more of her, while some NFL fans remain overwhelmed.
January 21: Chiefs vs. Bills
Shown times: 5 | Total length: 24 seconds
Travis' Day: 5 receptions, 75 yards, 2 touchdowns
Time spent on a shirtless Jason Kelce: 21 seconds
Score: Bosses 27, Bills 24
After an early snap of Mr. Kelce, Ms. Swift was shown sitting in her luxury suite, and Tony Romo, the color commentator, said: “There's an interested fan right there.” The broadcast returned to his suite after Mr. Kelce's two touchdown catches to see his celebrations. In the second, Romo pointed out that Jason Kelce was sitting behind Swift, drinking a beer with his shirt off. “There's your brother-in-law right behind you,” he said, incorrectly characterizing his relationship with Travis Kelce, just as he had done during the Kansas City Christmas game.
January 13: Chiefs vs. Dolphins
Shown times: 5 | Total length: 1 minute 16 seconds
Travis' Day: 7 receptions, 71 yards
Score: Bosses 26, Dolphins 7
Swift's jacket, a custom creation by Kristin Juszczyk, quickly became the talk of social media. As for the game, which was shown exclusively on the Peacock streaming service, mentions of Ms. Swift were few and far between, aside from an extended stretch in which game commentators Mike Tirico and Jason Garrett discussed her proximity with her.
“So I'm not exactly sure where in the stadium Taylor Swift sits, right?” Mr. Tirico said, as the cameras showed her suite and began to back up. “We're just sitting here watching the game. For the last quarter and a half, there have been people here and I was like, 'Man, they must love Jason Garrett.' Everyone points their camera at our booth to take a photo of Jason. And then about 10 minutes ago I was like, 'Hey, dummy, they're taking a picture of Taylor.'”
As the camera showed a wide shot of the cabin, which was right above Swift's suite, Garrett said, “And the worst thing is, I've been waving the whole time.”
December 31: Chiefs vs. Bengals
Shown times: 3 | Total length: 12 seconds
Travis' Day: 3 receptions, 16 yards
Score: Chiefs 25, Bengals 17
This was a quiet day for Kelce, leading to very little mention of Swift. After a crucial defensive play by one of Kelce's teammates late in the game, CBS cameras showed Swift celebrating in her suite, and Romo said, “You see all the fans, and your favorite fan, everyone excited. here.”
December 25: Chiefs vs. Raiders
Shown times: 3 | Total length: 14 seconds
Travis' Day: 5 receptions, 44 yards
Score: Raiders 20, Bosses 14
Ms. Swift and her entire family spent Christmas with the Chiefs and her brother, Austin, dressed as Santa Claus. But after CBS opened its broadcast with a shot of Swift in her suite, she largely disappeared, likely because Kelce played relatively poorly in a frustrating loss. The third and final time cameras showed Swift was behind a Kelce catch in the second quarter, prompting Romo to say, “And his wife loves it, I mean, his girlfriend.”
