On Oct. 1, millions of people woke up to the sounds of birds chirping melodiously outside their windows and extended their arms in a content stretch. They sprung from their beds, wondering how they would occupy their time until 8:20 pm, upon which they could tune into Sunday Night Football.
No, 27 million viewers did not eagerly flock to their couches to simply watch the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, take on the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets. For many of them, their excitement stemmed from the chance to see a certain blonde figure grace MetLife Stadium, and I am not talking about the Jets back-up quarterback Zach Wilson.
The possibility that global superstar sensation Taylor Swift could be in a relationship with the immensely talented Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is one that has had the world in a chokehold over the past few weeks. However, when you disentangle yourself from this trivially entertaining situation and take a step back, a more complex picture materializes into view.
As sports networks, media outlets and the National Football League (NFL) have scrambled to take advantage of the frenzy surrounding these two stars, the emerging and overarching narrative has been that, due to Swift’s presence at the last two Chiefs games, women have finally discovered the NFL. But whether their fandom has been acknowledged or not, women have been in the stands for a while.
The sports world is one that has been historically male-dominated and is therefore widely seen as a masculine space. When it comes to American football, this concept applies tenfold.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a female counterpart in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Similarly, the Professional Golf Association (PGA) exists alongside the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Though there are certainly imbalances between these leagues, a distinct space for women prevails. The NFL has no such vacancy, though it highlighted women’s flag football in an NFL commercial during the most recent Super Bowl.
As far as representation off the field, women cannot expect to see much of themselves either. On-field officials were exclusively male until 2015 when Sarah Thomas became the first woman to officiate full-time in the NFL. Coaching staff and athletic trainers are also predominantly male, further presenting the organization and its followers as a boys’ club.
This gendered view of football often makes it difficult for women to feel a sense of legitimacy and belonging in their own fandom, despite making up 47% of the NFL’s fanbase in 2020, according to Commissioner Roger Goodell. They are put on a metaphorical stand and haughtily challenged by the man sitting next to them to list five players and their respective favorite post-game snacks just to prove their right to enjoy a game.
Currently, this undermining of the NFL’s female fanbase is shifting beyond a patronizing line of questioning to the belittling of the predominantly female Swifties, as sports broadcasters and other news media outlets embed references to Swift’s songs in their coverage with the intention of appealing to new viewers.
But this attempt to gratify the demographics that the NFL perhaps seeks to expand the most — women and Generation Z — feels unsavory at best, especially when you consider the organization’s past handlings of domestic violence committed by players and the workplace treatment of women.
Following the Chiefs win against the Jets, the NFL changed their X banner (previously Twitter) to three photos of Swift at the game, along with an updated bio proudly displaying the lyrics, “we had the best day with you today,” in reference to Swift song, “The Best Day.”
Ahead of the Chiefs-Jets game in a taped recording, Carson Daly, host of “The Voice,” said, “We got a call from our friends at NBC Sports asking us to put tonight’s story in language that the legions of Swifties would understand.” Evidently, it is impossible to be bilingual in this so-called Swiftie language and that of the NFL.
With that being said, during this game, NBC did indeed see a total increase of two million female viewers, with viewership among girls aged 12-17 rising 53% from the average of the prior three weeks of “Sunday Night Football,” according to the network. Additionally, viewership among women aged 18-24 increased 24% and 34% among women aged 35 and older. So, yes — Swift did bring in impressive numbers.
But even if a portion of viewers from what NBC said was its most-streamed regular-season NFL game ever tuned in solely because of Swift, it is quite unnecessary to perpetuate the idea that football must be dumbed down for their sake, or that one cannot simultaneously have “Red” as their favorite album and also know what it means to blitz.
Is the relationship between these legends of their respective fields real? Will Swift be at the next Chiefs game? Who knows. What is very real, however, are the disparities among who we allow to be a sports fan. The female presence is growing inside the NFL fan base — it is time to stop questioning those within it.
