What is the 'Taylor Swift effect' and why might it be helping to boost the NFL?

Taylor Swift's attendance at recent NFL games has sent the league's ticket sales and television viewership soaring, as ITV News' Geraint Vincent reports

Taylor Swift has once again appeared at an NFL game amid rumours of a new romance with star player Travis Kelce - but could the 'Swift Effect' be boosting sports ticket sales?

Since Swift's headline-grabbing appearance at Arrowhead Stadium over a week ago – where she was pictured leaving hand-in-hand with Kansas City Chiefs' tight end, Kelce – fans began speculating the popstar would make an appearance once again.

With fans keen to catch a glimpse of the Anti-Hero star at Kelce's next showdown, ticket prices soared ahead of the Chiefs' Sunday night game against the New York Jets.

Taylor Swift pictured at Sunday's NFL game. Credit: AP

Jets ticket sales skyrocketed, with sales in a single day more than doubling the previous record for this season, according to ticket resale platform StubHub.

Sunday's game, at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, was the second-highest selling game of the NFL season after the season opener, it added.

The cheapest tickets for the game were going for $81 (£67) on Sunday afternoon, while resale tickets at the lower level cost close to $9,000 (£7,411).

Meanwhile, Kelce's own brand is thriving amid the reported romance. Last week alone, he picked up 9,000 more Instagram followers, while sales of his players jersey increased by 400%.

Much to fans' delight, the 12-time Grammy-award winning singer made an appearance. She was seen drinking and cheering from the stands with her arm around Kelce's mum as the Chiefs beat the Jets 23-20.

But experts say football is the biggest winner amid the 'Swift Effect'. Professor Angeline Scheinbaum told ITV News: "It's a great opportunity for the NFL to bring in not only a new demographic of younger women who may have felt excluded from the game before, but also a new psychographic of people who are just looking for fun and entertainment."

Viewership for the Chiefs' game on September 24 - the first game Swift attended - spiked 63% week-over-week among women ages 18-49 - the singer's prime fan demographic.

The US pop singer was pictured in the stands alongside other famous faces Credit: AP

The US singer was pictured in the stands alongside other major stars, including Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, as the Chiefs held off a brave effort from the Jets to claim their third win of the season on Sunday night.

The official NFL account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared multiple videos throughout the game of the singer, even changing their profile header to pictures of the star.

Neither Swift or Kelce have publicly confirmed they are dating.

Kelce all but confirmed the romance when he said with a cheeky grin on his podcast: "Shout out to Taylor for coming through and seeing me rock the stage."

He also earlier said Swift “looked amazing,” and that his friends and family had nothing but amazing things to say about her - stopping short of addressing the romance rumours directly.

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