After getting backlash from some football fans for their focus on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce the last two weeks, the NFL is explaining its spotlight on the pop superstar amid her rumored relationship with the athlete.
Swift, 33, has made the trip for Kelce’s last two games — one in Kansas City on Sept. 24 and a second on Sunday in New York — which led the league to post about the “Anti-Hero” singer on their social media pages, including changing their Instagram bio to “The @Chiefs are now 2-0 with @TaylorSwift13 in attendance” and briefly putting photos of Swift as their TikTok header.
But the attention towards Swift has led to annoyance from some football fans, which the NFL addressed Tuesday, explaining that the social media changes are a normal part of their strategy.
“We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally,” the NFL tells PEOPLE. “The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real time, as it’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport.”
“The vast majority of our content has remained focused on the game, our players and variety of other initiatives, including our Toy Story Funday Football alt-cast, the international games and more,” the statement concluded.
A day later, Kelce, 33, said himself that the NFL is “overdoing it a little bit” with the attention on him and Swift on Wednesday’s episode of his podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment.
His brother Jason Kelce, a 35-year-old center for the Philadelphia Eagles, posed the question during the episode. “Let’s get to it, is the NFL overdoing it?,” he asked his brother about the celebrity coverage. “What’s your honest opinion? Take away your feelings for Taylor…” which prompted a laugh from Travis.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end admitted, “I think it’s fun when they show who was at the game. I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching. But at the same time I think-”
“They’re overdoing it,” Jason finished, to which Travis agreed: “They’re overdoing it a little bit for sure, especially my situation. [But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it.”
Jason suggested that the NFL was “just not used to celebrities coming to the games” during the conversation. “Like basketball has it figured out,” he said. “They show them once or twice but then they get back to the game. NFL is like, ‘Oh my god look at all these A-lIst celebrities at the game, keep showing them, show em, show em…’ You show them once let them know they’re there and after touchdowns you get a little clip, but it can’t be overboard with it. People are there to watch the game right?”
“Yeah, they’re not there to get thrown on the TV,” Travis said of the celebrities, including the notoriously private Swift. “Cause you never know you get caught you know just throwing a big ol’ cheeseburger in and you look like an idiot you know what I mean, there’s just certain things… You just don’t want to be on TV at all times.”
On Sunday, the “Bejeweled” singer cheered for her rumored beau during the Chiefs’ 23-20 win over the New York Jets, alongside Sophie Turner, Blake Lively, Robyn Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Sabrina Carpenter and Antoni Porowski.
Brittany Mahomes also watched her husband Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes while taking in the big win from inside the suite with Swift after grabbing dinner with the popstar and her friends the night before.
