When my esteemed colleague Conor Orr made 100 bold predictions for the 2023 NFL season last week, he included one of particular interest to me, Sports Illustrated’s resident Swiftie: Prediction No. 88 is that Taylor Swift will play the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show. That’s something I’ve wanted to see for years. But for the first time, it actually seems kinda, sorta plausible. Swift is in a more reflective phase of her career—in the process of rerecording her first six albums, she’s embarked on the aptly named Eras Tour, a journey through her musical past—but she’s also clearly on top of her game. (Just look at the ticket prices for the aforementioned tour—which, not to brag, I saw at MetLife Stadium, in attendance the same night as Aaron Rodgers.)
Right now seems like the ideal time for her to take on a massive cultural stage like the Super Bowl. It also helps that corporate sponsorship conflicts are no longer present. Pepsi sponsored the halftime show for a decade, whereas Swift is a longtime Coca-Cola spokesperson; Apple Music, which has previously partnered with Swift, became the show’s title sponsor as of the 2022 season. This is the moment. So it’s time to make a hypothetical set list.
Alexander Lewis/MyCentralJersey/USA TODAY Network
