NFL Admits Taylor Swift Impacted 2024 Schedule, But Claims 'Conspiracy Theorists' Are Wrong
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
The NFL insists it is not going out of its way to make it easy for Taylor Swift to attend Kansas City Chiefs games, but admits she was a factor in developing the 2024 schedule.
Swift’s Era Tour returns to the United States this fall, which meant football had to come second place to a horde of Swifties.
According to ESPN, Swift will be playing in Miami Oct. 18-20, New Orleans Oct. 25-27 and Indianapolis Nov. 1-3. That means the Dolphins, Saints and Colts, respectively, wouldn’t be able to play in the stadiums where Swift will be performing and will have to play on the road on those dates.
“We certainly considered the tour dates that hit NFL stadiums,” Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said. “I think she’s in Miami, maybe New Orleans, Indy. We certainly considered those.”
NFL’s schedule was reportedly made keeping Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in considerationhttps://t.co/NC7w4LAWNW
— FirstSportz NFL (@FirstSportz_NFL) May 17, 2024
But the scheduling quirk that got the most attention was that the Kansas City Chiefs, featuring Swift’s boyfriend and star tight end Travis Kelce, will be playing the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo on Nov. 17, which happens to be an off day for Swift while performing six shows in Toronto between Nov. 14 and Nov. 23. For a pop star who zipped from Japan and back to see the Super Bowl, the 111-mile trip between Toronto and Buffalo is nothing.
ESPN snarked that it was “purely a coincidence. Really.”
But North said the computer did what it did with no regard for romance.
“One thing we didn’t consider, I saw a lot of conspiracy theorists talking about Kansas City at Buffalo in the middle of the season, right when Taylor’s playing Toronto. That one definitely did not hit our radar screen,” he said.
I’m not knocking Taylor Swift but the NFL bending their schedule around her concerts is DESPERATE 🥴🥴
— Dominique Petty (@KingPetty33) May 17, 2024
Swift may not be able to equal last year’s mark of attending 13 Chiefs games this year, according to The Athletic.
The European piece of her Eras tour ends in August and does not start again until October. That gives Swift the initial five weeks of the season to draw the attention of the TV cameras.
However, there are seven weeks when Swift either has a show or would have to leave her tour behind to make a quick trip to see Kelce play. One of those, however, is the Buffalo game.
Swift is not likely to make many pre-season games in August while she is in Europe, but will be back in America in time for the Chiefs’ Aug. 22 game after playing an Aug. 20 show in London.
The final version of the schedule was approved Monday.
“It’s an incredibly challenging puzzle,” Hans Schroeder, the league’s executive vice president of media distribution, said, according to The Associated Press.
“You’re thinking about competitive equality, how we solve for all our media partners, team elements, travel, how we solve for more windows on more continents as we play more. But most importantly, how do we create the best schedule for our fans. If there was ever sort of a needle in a haystack-type project, this is it,” he said.
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