Sportsnet Staff
May 16, 2024, 12:50 PM
Taylor Swift clearly put more eyeballs on the NFL last season as she cheered on Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — and the league acknowledges her presence has an impact on the league’s 2024 schedule.
But while the Eras Tour took some stadiums out of use for certain dates before the league released its docket Wednesday, the NFL insists Swift’s six-concert visit to Toronto in November wasn’t a convenient reason to schedule a Chiefs-Bills game in nearby Buffalo on an off-day in the middle of her Rogers Centre stay.
Per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North said Thursday it’s simply a coincidence that the Chiefs-Bills game is Nov. 17, while the Swift shows in Toronto are Nov. 14-16 and Nov. 21-23.
So, it appears Toronto fans will be able to ‘Taylgate’ at a fan event at the Metro Convention Centre during Swift’s stay, but there is no guarantee they’ll be able to take their celebration down the road and join Swift in the parking lots in Orchard Park, N.Y.
The league saw increased TV ratings several times last year when Swift was in attendance watching Kelce and the Chiefs, including an NFL divisional round record U.S. TV audience of over 50 million for Kansas City’s road win over Buffalo last January. Swift was sitting in a box in the end zone with several special guests, including Travis’ brother Jason and Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros, a former college teammates of Jason and Travis at college in Cincinnati.
North did say the NFL had to work around Swift concert dates in Miami, New Orleans and Indianapolis to create its schedule, per Greg Auman of FOX Sports.
2024-05-16 16:50:00
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