Taylor Swift is upgrading Travis Kelce’s fame – and the NFL loves it

America's latest power pairing benefits both stars and is helping usher in a new audience for football

Under the bright lights of the gridiron, Travis Kelce plays the part of a particular kind of NFL leading man - a touchdown-scoring party bro whom fans in middle America can rally around. Yet until a few weeks ago, anyone who didn't closely follow American football would struggle to recognize Kelce, even though the 33-year-old has had top billing in three of the last four Super Bowls, having featured prominently in national ad campaigns for Bud Light and Covid vaccinations and hosted Saturday Night Live this year. Indeed, NFL fans discovered how famous Kelce wasn't once he started to date Taylor Swift.

The pair's involvement, hotly rumored for weeks, was seemingly confirmed last Sunday when Swift turned up at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium for the home team's game against the Chicago Bears. If Swift's colour palette - red lips and nails to match a Kansas City jacket - didn't make her favored team clear, her seat in the stadium suite next to Kelce's mother, Donna, surely did. When Kelce scored in the third quarter, the Fox cameras cut to Swift banging on the suite glass, chest-bumping a neighbor and apparently shouting, Let's fucking go!". Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback who facilitated the touchdown, said afterwards: I knew I had to get it to Trav ... I think he wanted to get in the end zone just as much as all the Swifties wanted him to."