Commissioner Roger Goodell sat down with CBS Mornings this week to share his thoughts on some of the most pressing current affairs in the NFL — so, yes, that means he had to talk about Taylor Swift.
In his Wednesday (Nov. 22) interview with host the show’s co-host Nate Burleson, Goodell said that he was happy to see the romance between the pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce going so well. “Listen, they’re happy,” he said. “They seem to be enjoying their relationship, that’s great in and of itself. But it has connected more fans of Taylor’s and more fans of the NFL in some way to see that now they have a connection to our game.”
Continuing, the commissioner added that the pairing has certainly brought a much wider fanbase to the NFL. “Taylor, she’s an unbelievable artist, obviously Travis is an unbelievable player,” he said. “I think it’s great for the league to have that kind of attention. We welcome it.”
Viewership of NFL games — particularly those involving the Kansas City Chiefs — is booming thanks to the pop star’s romance with Kelce and her resulting attendance at games. In fact, the Chiefs’ Monday night (Nov. 20) showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles, home to Travis’ older brother Jason, was the most-viewed Monday night football game in 27 years.
Some sports fans, however, have criticized the NFL for its Swift-centric coverage as of late, and even Travis himself admitted last month that the network was “overdoing it a little bit.” Soon after, the NFL defended its focus on Swift’s involvement via a statement: “The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real time,” it read. “It’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport.”
See Goodell’s full CBS Mornings interview above.
