When rumors of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dating first began, there were some cheeky comments and references to the pop star on Chiefs broadcasts when Kelce would do something, but ever since Swift started showing up at games in luxury boxes with Donna Kelce and various celebrities, things have gone a bit off the rails.
Every time Swift rolls up to a game, it becomes a leading story for the broadcast, with plenty of cuts to the box and conversation about the pop star from the broadcast team. The league is happy to try and take advantage of the moment by giving Swifties their fill of Taylor being at the game, but there are plenty of NFL fans who aren’t particularly thrilled by the encroachment of the pop culture space on NFL broadcasts. Kelce himself has said he thinks the league is “overdoing it” when it comes to the Swift stuff, as I don’t think the Chiefs star tight end was quite prepared for the level of attention his new relationship would be getting.
On this week’s premiere of Saturday Night Live, they did a sketch led by Keenan Thompson and Pete Davidson poking fun at the NFL’s new Taylor Swift obsession, with Thompson playing an exasperated Curt Menafee, desperately trying to get anyone who will talk football, while all of his colleagues just want to talk Swift. Finally, he finds someone who will talk ball when Travis Kelce popped up for a cameo at the end.
The NFL’s in their Swiftie era #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/DZ1F1bomol
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 15, 2023
Kelce, who has hosted SNL in the past, had some free time on his hands this week with the Chiefs winning on Thursday Night Football against the Broncos, and flew out to New York where he and Swift made appearances on Saturday Night — with Taylor helping introduce musical guest Ice Spice.