It seems as if the entire country is obsessed with the budding romance between superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce... and Kelce has a theory as to why.
While speaking to the media as part of his pre-Super Bowl duties, Kelce was asked by one reporter from the Los Angeles Times—who admitted she was sent to the media event "just to cover you and Taylor"—why he thinks everyone "is so fascinated" with his relationship.
"I think the values that we stand for and just, you know, who we are as people," Kelce confidently and quickly replied. "We love to shine light on others, shine light around the people who help and support us, and on top of that I feel like we both just have a love for life."
Swoon.
The country is, indeed, fascinated with Swift and Kelce's relationship, and the National Football League (NFL) is no doubt benefiting from this cultural moment.
Thanks to Swift's in-person game attendances, NFL viewership has exploded. In total, this year’s NFLL divisional playoff round averaged 40 million viewers and managed to secure the highest regular-season viewership among women since tracking began in 2000.
Ticket sales and NFL merchandise have also increased exponentially as result of the arguably the most popular couple on the planet. In September, StubHub representatives saw a nearly 3x increase in ticket sales for a Chiefs and Chicago Bears game in just 24 hours. In the same month, Kelce jersey sales increased 400%.
In the lead up to the Super Bowl—when the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Fransisco 49ers in the NFL's biggest game of the year on Sunday, Feb. 11—Kelce has fielded a lot of questions about Swift and his relationship... as has his teammates.
When asked about the number of questions he has been asked about Swift and Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said: "I know the questions are gonna come and I'm gonna answer them because of how great of a person she is."
The Swift-Kelce fever is real, and we're here for it.