Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s budding romance has dominated the internet, but the Kansas City Chiefs are doing what they can to keep their eye on the ball.
A source told CBS Sports in an interview published Saturday that, despite a drastic jump in viewership already, the Chiefs are trying to steer clear of appearing to exploit Kelce’s romantic life in exchange for growing their fan base.
While the Chiefs did manage to tweet a video on Sept. 24 of Swift in a VIP suite at Arrowhead Stadium — alongside Kelce’s parents — their source says that the organization’s goal is to focus on the 53 football players as a whole and not just one.
However, the increase in sales and social media interest around the Chiefs has undeniably skyrocketed since Swift’s emergence into the sports stratosphere.
As for NFL’s SVP of Social, Influencer & Content Marketing, Ian Trombetta, he told CBS News that the “Blank Space” singer’s impact on the NFL viewership has “definitely” created a “stir.”
“Another thing that’s been a little surprising is that it really hasn’t slowed down. It’s continued to build in this momentum of conversation,” Trombetta said.
“It’s been honestly unlike anything we’ve seen from a regular season perspective in the sense that we have celebrities and influencers and big creators that are at games every single week. And while it drives interest and discussion online, this was something we’ve never seen before.”
However, Trombetta added that he and the NFL are also being careful not to put all of their eggs in one basket — despite the NFL already posting about Swift, 33, over 30 times since her Arrowhead appearance.
“We don’t want to get to a place where we’re turning off our most avid fans and we certainly want to be sensitive to the platform selection as well,” he told the outlet, adding that the organization is wary of “over commercializing” or “intruding on [Swift and Kelce’s] privacy.”
“And what that looks like for us is that we’re not going to be stationed outside of Taylor’s house trying to get photos and things like that.”
While the NFL has no intention of sitting outside of the Grammy-winning artist’s home to grab photos, they may not need to go that far to snag a snap of the singer Sunday.
Swift — who is back on the East Coast — is expected to be at the Chiefs’ game versus the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium Sunday evening.
Kelce was spotted leaving her NYC apartment early Sunday morning before the big game.
Last week, Swift was spotted leaving Arrowhead Stadium with Kelce, 33, in his convertible before being spotted downing shots and getting cozy at the Chiefs afterparty.