Taylor Swift’s trip to watch Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce play football on Sunday didn’t just have the internet talking nonstop.
Following the 12-time Grammy Award winner’s appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, jersey sales for the All-Pro tight-end seemingly skyrocketed.
According to sportswear and fan merchandise company Fanatics, Kelce was one of the top-five selling NFL players Sunday. He “saw a nearly 400% spike in sales throughout the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com,” a spokesperson told The Associated Press via email.
Sales spiked on the same day that Swift was spotted in Kansas City, watching the Chiefs play the Bears alongside Kelce’s mother, Donna, from one of the football Arrowhead Stadium’s glass-enclosed suites.
Kelce did not speak to reporters afterward, but he was spotted leaving Arrowhead with Swift by his side.
Still, just about everyone in the Chiefs locker room was buzzing about the news after Sunday’s game, including coach Andy Reid, who joked that “I set them up.”
Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Kelce told him “at the last minute” that Swift was attending the game but also noted: “Some things with [Kelce], he says it and you don’t know if it’s true or not.” Mahomes admitted he was under “a little pressure” to throw a touchdown pass to Kelce, who hauled in a 3-yard TD in the third quarter.
“I think he wanted to get in the end zone just as much as all the Swifties wanted him to,” Mahomes said.
Swift has always been reluctant to discuss her personal life in public, but rumors have been flying about the popstar and the two-time Super Bowl champion in recent months — notably after a July episode of Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, when he said he was disappointed that he didn’t get to meet Swift and gift her a friendship bracelet during the Kansas City stop on her Eras Tour. In a later appearance on the “The Pat McAfee Show,” Kelce revealed that he invited Swift to watch him play.
Swift is currently on a break from her Eras Tour, which resumes Nov. 9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Beyond jersey sales, the NFL has also met the internet hype of Swift’s trip to Arrowhead. As of Tuesday, the NFL’s bio on social media platform X read “NFL (Taylor’s Version)” alongside a photo of Swift and Donna Kelce watching Sunday’s game.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.