Arrie Flathouse took her first steps to Taylor Swift’s hit track “Tim McGraw.”
The pop icon was a relentless a part of the now 16-year-old Arrie’s childhood as she grew up within the Houston space with two older sisters who adored Swift. Arrie got here to like Swift, too, dressing up as her for Halloween and listening to her albums.
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Arrie by no means obtained a lot into soccer, although, regardless of having a mother, Kara, who spent her weekends tuned into school and NFL video games. That included video games performed by the Chiefs since Kara, like Kansas Metropolis quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is a Texas Tech alum. Regardless of Kara’s makes an attempt to get her daughters , soccer by no means clicked with Arrie, so Kara often spent these weekend afternoons watching video games alone.
However that modified final summer time after Arrie noticed clips of the “New Heights” podcast, on which one of many hosts, Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce, described his makes an attempt to provide Swift his quantity by way of a friendship bracelet.
Anybody know how you can get a bracelet to @taylorswift13? … asking for a buddy 😅 @BWWings
New episode premieres NOW!
Faucet in: https://t.co/lmQ8fLH1IO pic.twitter.com/4yYr8HSb0m
— New Heights (@newheightshow) July 26, 2023
The little alternate had fairly an affect on Arrie.
Already a loyal listener to the podcast, Kara obtained so excited when her daughter began speaking concerning the Kelce clips. Over the next months, social media labored its magic, and by the point Swift confirmed as much as her first Chiefs recreation in late September, Arrie was tuned in.
“That is loopy,” Arrie stated. “This isn’t Swifties’ theories. That is for actual. In order that’s once I began watching soccer as a result of I used to be like, ‘If she’s gonna be on the video games, I’ve obtained to see her.’”
Arrie has since tuned into just about each Chiefs recreation, embracing not solely the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance however your complete Kelce household. She’s watched Amazon Prime’s documentary about his brother, Eagles heart Jason Kelce, turned a loyal listener of the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast and even began watching Eagles video games.
“Even when Taylor isn’t there, I feel I take pleasure in (the sport) much more,” stated Arrie, whose mother and father promised to purchase her a Travis Kelce jersey quickly.
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Kara smiles listening to her daughter describe her newfound curiosity in a sport she bonded over together with her personal dad. Kara doesn’t wish to push too arduous, however she loves it when she sees Arrie’s head pop over the stair banister if she hears soccer on the TV. A lot to Kara’s delight, that tends to result in high quality time collectively watching video games together with her daughter. It’s additionally led to questions concerning the sport itself.
“It’s been actually enjoyable for me,” stated Kara, who posted a viral video within the fall about her glee that Swift lastly transformed her daughter to a soccer fan. “I adore it.”
The Flathouse household isn’t an anomaly. Removed from it. Swift’s arrival on the soccer stage has led to numerous tales of football-loving mother and father bonding with their Swiftie children. Even Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt is listening to them.
“I often have dads come as much as me and say, ‘My 10- and 12-year-old daughters by no means used to look at soccer, however they now inform me anytime the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are enjoying to inform them to allow them to watch,” Hunt stated this week in Las Vegas, the place the Chiefs are making ready to face the San Francisco 49ers in Tremendous Bowl LVIII. “I used to be at a perform a bit of over every week in the past and I had a girl, in all probability in her mid-20s, who got here as much as me, launched herself as a Swiftie and informed me her complete household is Dallas Cowboys followers and that she used to not comply with soccer in any respect, however now she’s all-in on the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. I feel there are a whole lot of examples like that on the market.”
One story similar to that belongs to Todd Kale, a Cowboys fan who posted a now-viral video of his 11-year-old daughter Briley reciting soccer info from the sofa.
The Kale household lives close to Houston. They’re Cowboys season-ticket holders and their 5 daughters love going to video games. They know the big-name Dallas gamers however by no means actually watched the sport with their dad, as a substitute embracing the environment of a recreation day or simply having fun with consuming scorching wings, their Sunday ritual, slightly than participating a lot with the precise soccer.
However Briley, the center baby of the household, grew up a Swift fan because of her older sisters and has handed the love for Swift onto her youthful siblings. Todd wasn’t certain how Briley first discovered of Swift’s connection to Kelce, however a couple of months again, he was watching a Sunday night time recreation together with his spouse and realized Briley was in the lounge. She began asking questions: What’s a security? What’s a cornerback? What number of factors is a landing price?
It didn’t take lengthy for Todd to understand the place this was coming from.
“It positively intrigued her that any person she actually likes is now concerned in one thing I actually like,” Todd stated.
Briley has since watched extra Chiefs video games and has picked up data concerning the sport itself, absorbing all of it.
“It’s each dad’s dream. … She appreciated soccer earlier than, however I feel she simply appreciated the expertise of it,” Todd stated. “Now she’s studying extra concerning the recreation.”
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Swift has been a storyline all season — with Kansas Metropolis successful 9 of the 12 video games she has attended — and the Chiefs’ Tremendous Bowl run has solely ratcheted that up a better degree.
“There’s little question her being a fan has put a extra intense give attention to the group than we’d’ve had in any other case,” Hunt stated. “It has opened up the fan base to an entire new demographic that we actually didn’t have in younger ladies. You’ve seen that in a whole lot of methods, particularly our TV scores. They’re much greater due to Taylor Swift being part of the group, as Kelce says.”
Hunt’s not unsuitable concerning the TV scores. Not solely did the common variety of viewers tuning into Chiefs regular-season prime-time video games enhance this season from the earlier two (a 39.4 % leap in comparison with final 12 months alone), however so did the proportion of feminine viewers (up 3 %), in keeping with Nielsen. And that viewership leap has carried over to the postseason. The Chiefs’ divisional-round win over Buffalo averaged 50.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched divisional-round or wild-card recreation ever. The Chiefs’ victory over the Ravens was the most-watched AFC Championship Recreation ever, with a median of 55.47 million viewers tuning in.
Taylor Swift has generated an equal model worth of $331.5 million for the Chiefs and the NFL, Apex Advertising and marketing Group tells FOS.
The determine contains print, digital, radio, TV, highlights, and social media going again to Swift’s first recreation in September.https://t.co/xUzMDsqIgE pic.twitter.com/Ruj5FM7g81
— Entrance Workplace Sports activities (@FOS) January 28, 2024
The league’s social media group has performed a giant function in ushering in new audiences, as properly. The group embraced Swift’s first recreation in September, attempting to take heed to all the new eyeballs on their feeds whereas not going overboard, stated Ian Trombetta, NFL SVP of social and influencer advertising.
That theme has remained constant all through the season, although the technique varies relying on the platform, Trombetta stated. With a few of people who skew youthful, like TikTok and Snapchat, there’s extra motive to embrace Swifties with their posts.
“We’re additionally excited about this within the sense of not simply what we’re posting on social media, but additionally how our companions are overlaying it,” Trombetta stated. “In order that may very well be a broadcast associate. That may very well be a sponsor, and many others. And once you take all that into totality, it may get fairly, fairly scorching simply when it comes to the quantity of protection. And, so for us, I feel it actually was a reminder for us to take a broader view of all of the protection and perceive our function in it.”
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Swift’s emergence onto the NFL scene has helped result in record-setting engagement, with triple-digit development in consumption throughout numerous platforms, per Trombetta. Their viewers continues to skew youthful and diversify in male/feminine break up as properly, he stated.
Swift’s Tremendous Bowl attendance is up within the air because of her Eras Tour cease in Tokyo, If Swift is there to look at Kelce’s Chiefs tackle the San Francisco 49ers, the league social group will dedicate a while to her arrival and reactions, however with a lot occurring across the Tremendous Bowl between the soccer and the spectacle, it received’t simply be the Taylor Swift social feed.
“I feel we’ve gotten to the purpose now although, that by and enormous, it’s been a really celebratory factor,” Trombetta stated. “And positively a constructive for the league, a constructive for the Chiefs, a constructive for the Kelce household, and clearly with Travis, and I feel it’s been a constructive for Taylor as properly. So we’ll proceed to lean into it in numerous methods, but additionally be respectful of their relationship. So not invading any privateness and trying to take cues the place a few of the traces may be on the quantity of protection and in addition hold the sport entrance and heart. That’s actually essential for us.”
Nonetheless, there’s little question the league has introduced in new followers because of Swift, because the Flathouse and Kale households can attest.
The Flathouse household on Sunday can be internet hosting an “I’m in My Tremendous Bowl Period” themed celebration in honor of the Chiefs-Swift crossover.
There can be an enormous friendship bracelet garland together with appropriately themed foods and drinks, together with an “electrical” mocktail, in honor of a phrase Kelce likes to make use of lots.
However what about subsequent season when the Swift magic could have run its course? It doesn’t matter for Arrie, who plans on nonetheless tuning into NFL video games.
“I really feel like I’m hooked now,” Arrie stated.
— The Athletic’s Nate Taylor contributed to this report.
(Picture illustration: Daniel Goldfarb / The Athletic;
Images: Jamie Squire, Patrick Smith and Sarah Stier / Getty Pictures)
