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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce\u2019s weeks-long relationship is now being covered by the paper of record, the New York Times. Instead of going to a Nazi diner in Ohio to see what Trump supporters think of the Swift-Kelce alliance, the Times took a different tack: \u201cTravis Kelce Was a Star. Taylor Swift Put Him in Another Orbit.\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s true! The football guys don\u2019t want to admit it, but it\u2019s true. Travis Kelce was a huge NFL star and every football fan in America knew his name. But \u201cdating Taylor Swift\u201d has him in a completely different level of global stardom.<\/p>\n Despite Kelce\u2019s relative fame in the sports world, becoming part of the frenzied conversation around Swift\u2019s every move is another ballgame. Kelce now has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. Swift has 273 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThis puts him on a completely different plane from where he was as a celebrity,\u201d said Daniel Durbin, a professor of communication at the University of Southern California. \u201cThis is celebrity on steroids, and it has a powerful impact.\u201d<\/p>\n That Kelce and Swift were in the same stadium this weekend brought together two fandoms that don\u2019t often overlap. A spokesman for Fanatics, the N.F.L.\u2019s official retailer, said that sales of Kelce\u2019s jersey had spiked by 400 percent as of Monday.<\/p>\n Coaches and players from across the N.F.L. also took notice. Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach known for gruff answers to reporters\u2019 questions, said on a radio show that \u201cTravis Kelce\u2019s had a lot of big catches in his career \u2014 this would be the biggest.\u201d The star Cowboys defender Micah Parsons posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that one woman \u201ccan change your life!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [From The NY Times]<\/p>\n That Instagram follower count is telling – while a football player having 3.2 million followers is HUGE, it really is nothing compared to Taylor\u2019s cultural ubiquity. Not only did the Kelce jersey sell out – Swifties wanted to own the exact one Taylor wore to the game – the Chiefs game also had huge TV ratings, with 24.3 million tuning in, especially once Fox put the camera on Taylor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Taylor didn\u2019t leave Kansas City until Tuesday – she was spotted boarding one of her private planes at Kansas City International Airport, with her security people in tow. So\u2026 she spent a few nights in Kansas City. I wonder what she and Travis did on Monday.<\/p>\n Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.<\/small><\/p>\n\n
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