Recently, it has been nearly impossible to scroll on social media or watch a football game without the mention of icon singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, tight end – a player that blocks and catches passes – for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Football fans and Swifties have more in common than one might initially think. The football community can argue over their favorite teams, favorite plays and players, similar to how Swifties debate their favorite eras, favorite lyrics and collaborations.
Fans of both football and Swift enjoy investing in merchandise and showing their t-shirt, hoodie or jersey off. At the Swift’s Era’s tour, long lines would form at the merch trucks as early as eight a.m.
The football season is all leading up to the Super Bowl which usually takes place in February of each year. The Super Bowl is the ultimate football game, and members of the winning team will receive championship rings.
Swifties can think of the Super Bowl as their version of the Era’s tour – if the tour happened yearly that is. Years of preparation, 10 studio albums and re-records, have led up to Swift’s Era’s tour.
Both football fans and Swift fans have regular chants they scream at events. For example, the Minnesota Vikings chant “skol” as their fight song; and when Swift performs her song “Delicate,” Swifties will yell “one, two, three let’s go bitch!”
When it comes to the National Football League (NFL), each team prepares for months and trains hard. They play against each other for months, hoping they will make it to that ultimate February game.
To break it down further, a football game is a group of 53 players on a team’s active roster. 11 players from each team are on the field at a time, and they throw a football around and run in the hopes of a touchdown. A touchdown is when a player or players get the ball into the endzone and receive six points.
When a player scores a touchdown, fans hoot and holler, almost like when Swifties cheered for over two minutes after hearing “Champagne Problems” each night of the Eras Tour.
There are 32 teams in the NFL: the Chicago Bears, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Indianapolis Colts and others.
The NFL’s social media accounts are comparable to Taylor Nation; when there is an event or an announcement, they will let fans know.
Additionally, Swift seemingly allows the NFL to use her Eras Tour stadiums during her off-season for their televised games. These games can be watched in the stadiums or on TV, much like how the Swifties watched the Eras Tour through social media livestreams.
The object of a football game is to score points, more than the other team. For example, Swift attended the Bears versus Chiefs game on Sept. 24 where the Chiefs won by 31 points. We all know what 31 backward is … 13.
