Worlds collided on Sunday as 12-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift cheered on two-time Super Bowl champion tight end Travis Kelce at the Chiefs game, where he made seven catches and scored a touchdown in their 41-10 victory over the Bears. Now, the internet is divided over the unlikely pair, who are rumored to be dating, and it has both the Swifties and football fans wondering if sparks are really flying between the two.

Naturally, Bowe Digital is more worried about what this budding relationship means for their prospective brands.

Taylor’s Version 

Taylor is notorious for her chart-topping breakup and love songs inspired by her star-studded list of exes. While her songs are wildly popular, it’s the marketing tactics behind them that sell out concert stadiums and create buzz on social media. 

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour generated 5 billion dollars in revenue using six main tactics we can all learn from. They offered exclusive items only available for purchase at the concert, followed organic community trends – cue the friendship bracelets (this will be important later!), listened to fans – adding more tour dates due to high demand, left hints on Taylor Swift’s website and social media, leaned into Taylor-themed side events and spread out the love on social, featuring things like ‘Get Ready With Me’ videos on TikTok, Stories during the concert and Instagram photo carousels days after. 

Taylor and her team also recognize the value of repurposing successful content. Knowing how much her fans loved the album Sparks Fly, she wrote Sparks Fly (Taylor’s Version). Likewise, following the success of her tour, her team repurposed it into a movie experience. 

Catching Kelce

Travis Kelce has been in the NFL for 11 years. In 2016, he scored a role on his dating show called Catching Kelce, but it wasn’t until the 2023 Super Bowl, where he faced off against his older brother Jason Kelce and won, that he started to gain the attention of people everywhere. Following his Super Bowl win, Travis was invited to host SNL, has starred in commercials, tried his hand at some modeling and most notably, started a podcast with his brother called New Heights with Travis and Jason Kelce. The football player capitalized on his newfound fame to build a lasting brand and now has the #1 most popular sports podcast on Spotify.

In Their (Chiefs) Red Era

So, how are Taylor and Travis helping each other score? First, let’s talk about how the two got together. A long-time fan, Travis attended one of Taylor’s concerts during her Eras Tour and brought a friendship bracelet with his number on it, proving just how good of a marketing tactic it was (we told you this would be important). Sadly, he didn’t get the chance to give it to her, but he shot his shot again and scored her attendance at the Sunday night game. 

Taylor and Travis are the best at what they do in their perspective fields, but little overlap exists. Their relationship exposes them to new audiences, with Taylor making her ESPN debut and Travis being discovered by Swifties everywhere. However, it does seem like Travis and the Chiefs got the better side of the deal. “Since Sunday’s Chiefs-Bears game, there’s been a 400% spike in Travis Kelce jersey sales, Kelce’s podcast ranks #1 overall on Apple, Kelce adds 383K Instagram followers, 24.3M viewers watched the game, 3x increase in ‘Chiefs’ searches on the web, 3x increase in Chiefs’ sales on Stubhub and Chiefs sold more tickets in a single day since the start of the season,” according to this Instagram post from Front Office Sports.

Whether this means we’ll see more football jerseys at the next Taylor Swift concert or sparkly outfits at the Chiefs game, we’re here for it. All we can hope for is more touchdowns, new songs and great marketing. Like Taylor and Travis, give people something to talk about by working with Bowe Digital. Contact Bradley Erb on our team at bradley@bowedigital.com to discuss your marketing goals! Learn more about our services at bowedigital.com.