By Steve Keating
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell laughed off claims that the league had “scripted” the romance between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift to allow the pop star to use the Super Bowl to bolster support for Joe Biden in the presidential election.
The run-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl between Kansas City and San Francisco has been dominated by stories surrounding the relationship between the world’s biggest pop star and the Chiefs All-Pro tight end.
While Goodell said the “Taylor Swift effect” is positive for the league, the singer has become a target for allies of former President Donald Trump, with some spreading conspiracy theories that her relationship with Kelce was part of an NFL plan to get Biden back into the White House.
“I don’t think I’m that good of a scripter — or anybody on our staff,” laughed Goodell during his state of the league press conference on Monday. “Listen, there is no way I could have scripted that one, let’s put it that way.
“Having the Taylor Swift effect is also a positive, both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people.
“She knows great entertainment, and I think that’s why I think she loves NFL football.”
Swift backed Biden in 2020 and while she has not announced her support for any candidate ahead of this year’s election some Republican party supporters are convinced she will use the Super Bowl spotlight to call on her army of fans, known as “Swifties”, to vote Democrat.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the presidential race last month before throwing his support behind Trump, said in January on the social media platform X: “I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month.
“And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let’s see how it ages over the next 8 months.”
For Goodell though, Swift has been nothing but good for the NFL, pulling in a new demographic that has prompted a jump in viewership and merchandise and ticket sales.
“I think its great to have her as a partner, obviously it creates a buzz and brings another group of young fans,” said Goodell. “She’s an extraordinary performer, I think this is just about welcoming people into the game.
“You hear the stories, you see the data.
“People are talking about the game that weren’t talking about the game yesterday.
“Whatever that reason is I’m good with it.
“Taylor is a dynamo everything she touches there are people following it.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Las Vegas. Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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