People are So Angry with Taylor Swift Coverage That CBS Delivered Most-Watched AFC Championship Game Ever

Ahmad Austin Jr.Jan 30th, 2024, 1:46 pm
 
Taylor Swift celebrates Chiefs win

Julio Cortez/AP

In what has become a weekly tradition this NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs have once again attracted a record number of eyes to their latest game.

The Chiefs traveled to Baltimore on Sunday to take on the Ravens in the AFC Championship. Despite it being considered an “off” year for the Chiefs, the team managed to upset the top-seeded Ravens 17-10 to make its fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the last five seasons.

According to CBS, the low-scoring affair was the most-watched AFC Championship ever with an average viewership of 55.47 million. The game peaked at more than 64 million viewers.

This comes just a week after the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills played the most-watched divisional playoff game across all networks.

By now, it should be obvious that the NFL’s coverage of Taylor Swift is working. Since the pop star went public with her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Swift has been a regular sight at the games — and the NFL has insisted on reminding its viewers. Many have complained about Swift being shown too much during games. Some even made the baffling choice to blame her for the team’s struggles throughout the regular season.

Regardless of how one feels about seeing Swift celebrating in the suite after every big play by Kelce, the fact of the matter is it hasn’t hurt the ratings. In fact, it’s arguably been a boon. Even in the regular season, Chiefs games drew massive ratings with her in attendance.

That, argued ESPN analyst Damien Woody, is why the NFL won’t change. In a Monday tweet, Woody called out the men “[bitching] and complaining” about the NFL making a smart business move.

“I gotta say… the amount of ppl, particularly men, bitchin & complaining about the coverage of Taylor Swift and the NFL is insane,” Woody said. “You’re talking about a global superstar + the biggest sports brand in the US. What the hell u thought was going to happen.”

Based on some of the responses to the tweet, it’s having the exact effect the NFL wants. A number of people claimed Swift’s presence got their daughters into football, introducing to the game to an entirely new audience.

As long as Swift continues to attend games, the NFL will do everything it can to tap into her massive fanbase.

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