By WAYNE REDSHAW
I enjoy watching National Football League games on television whether I’m at home in Wainfleet in the fall or wintering in Florida. It’s THE LEAGUE when it comes to viewing top-notch professional football and first-class television coverage.
On Sundays, there’s always a ton of games on various networks starting at 1 p.m. and ending just before midnight. Then there’s the Monday night game and sometimes even two games that same evening. And on Thursdays there’s always one game. During the holiday season, you can always count on televised games too, not only on Christmas Day but usually just before.
If your favourite team isn’t on a bye week, you are pretty well guaranteed to see them play depending on the network, the time zone and the schedule.
This season is no different than past years. However, when you take in Kansas City Chiefs televised contests this season, there’s an added side attraction which the networks have been zeroing in on after the Chiefs score or make a big play. That side attraction features pop culture singing star Taylor Swift, who happens to be dating the Chiefs’ wide receiver Travis Kelce.
Every time Kelce makes a big play or is on the receiving end of a touchdown when Swift is in attendance at the game, the TV network zooms in on her to show her reaction.
This is not something new for the networks. For years now when the Dallas Cowboys were featured on TV, the cameras focused on owner Jerry Jones a few times every game whether he be in a private box, sitting in the stands or walking along the sidelines. Rarely did networks show other team owners. But for some strange reason Jones was always the No. 1 boy with networks.
While I prefer to see the networks focus on the game and the players rather than the sidelines I have to admit Taylor Swift is much nicer and prettier to look at than Jerry Jones, anytime. It’s a big change but at the same time I feel the networks are going overboard. They are forgetting the product they are supposed to be covering. That’s the game itself and the players on the field.
It’s overkill in every respect. Furthermore, it seems the rest of the media — print, radio and websites — have jumped on the bandwagon. Some radio stations have even started a Taylor Swift watch for every game. Will she or will she not be in attendance at the next Chiefs game? Pick up a major newspaper or sports magazine and pictures of Taylor Swift are published along with coverage of the game.
A couple of weeks ago on NBC’s Sunday Night Football Night In America which featured the Chiefs and the New York Jets, the network in my estimation went overboard. Seventeen different times the cameras broke away and focused on Swift and friends in a private box celebrating. The game seemed secondary.
One would think NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is paid an annual salary of $63.9 million, would intervene and say something to the networks. But no way. He won’t address the dreadful officiating, which has been a problem in the NFL for years so why step in and stop the Taylor Swift issue.
Furthermore, I think the NFL is 100% in favour of the extra attention and publicity Swift has generated the past few months attending games and dating Kelce. While Goodell may be the head honcho of the NFL, the TV networks rule and have the final say as they pay mega bucks to the league for TV rights every season. In fact, you could say they even contribute towards Goodell salary.
Surprisingly, the Kelce-Swift romance has paid instant dividends for the networks. For instance, the Christmas Day game between the Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, the CBS network experienced their biggest December 25th ratings since 1989 as more than 29 million viewers took in the game. Apparently NBC and Fox have seen a boost in ratings too.
On the financial side, sales of Kelce’s No. 87 jersey have sky-rocketed too, by 400 percent. When the NFL season began in early September Kelce’s jersey was the 19th most popular sweater on the market. As of December 24th brisk sales had moved the jersey into the top five, even passing teammate Patrick Mahomes, who has been sitting near the top of the jersey sales leaderboard since he entered the NFL.
So don’t expect to see any changes with only two weeks remaining in the schedule. Of course there’s the playoffs and the the Chiefs are pretty well assured of a berth. The big question is how far will they go?
The Chiefs have appeared in three of the last four Super Bowls and won twice defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in 2020 and the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 this year. In 2021, the Chiefs bowed to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9.
This season the Chiefs have a 9-6 won-loss record. They are 5-3 with Swift in attendance and 4-3 without. But the Chiefs have have lost four of their past six games and it has some experts wondering. Is Taylor Swift a curse or a distraction? I wouldn’t say a curse by any means. But a distraction yes, especially for the average “Joe football” fan, who wants to enjoy the game, not the sidelines follies the networks are zooming in on. Maybe the Chiefs will make an early exit from the playoffs and the Taylor Swift network saturation will be over, at least for this seasonI
(Wayne Redshaw has covered sports, both professional and amateur for over 60 years. He can be reached at wredshaw@icloud.com).
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