Taylor Swift’s influence has been a major positive for the NFL, its commissioner says, drawing a new demographic of fans to the sport.
Roger Goodell, the NFL’s top executive, welcomed the increased interest from the pop superstar’s fanbase, known as ‘Swifties,’ following the announcement of her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
“It’s great. She’s brought a great deal of attention obviously to the league and with her fanbase, which is a slightly different fanbase than the NFL, but it’s brought them into the game,” Goodell said at Leaders Week London.
He added: “As Taylor has said many times, ‘I came in not understanding the game as well as I should have, and I love it’.”
Goodell views her conversion into a genuine fan as a major positive.
“I think it’s a great thing for us, and so all those young fans that are coming in, it’s a plus for the NFL,” he said.
Swift has attended a number of Kelce’s matches, including the last two Super Bowls, since the couple got together in 2023.
They announced in August that they are engaged.
There were reports that the NFL had discussed the possibility of Swift being the star turn for the half-time show at the 2026 Super Bowl but terms could not be agreed, with Bad Bunny announced instead.
Goodell was speaking days before the Cleveland Browns take on the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the first of three NFL matches taking place in London in October.
And he said he was open to the idea of NFL matches being played in UK cities beyond London.
“London’s a great market for us, but I think there are other cities that express an interest, and I think we’ll probably consider that at some point,” he said.
He appeared to rule out the possibility of playing a Super Bowl in London, however.
“Maybe it’s an indication of how far we’ve come, that it’s even being discussed (by others),” he said.
“It’s hard for me to look down the path, but I would say the major focus for us is to play the Super Bowl in markets where we have franchises.
“It’s a huge economic impact. Last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans was over a billion dollar economic impact, and that’s not including all of the additional exposure and all the other things that I would say are non-quantifiable.
“That’s a significant investment that we feel our communities where we’re playing deserve.”
