The hysteria surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce continued on Sunday night when the pop superstar rocked up at MetLife Stadium to watch the Chiefs defeat the Jets.
And the Swift effect continued as the pop sensation watched Kelce play at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, sending television ratings rocketing yet again.
Sunday’s star-studded occasion in New Jersey lived up its billing as viewing figures increased from those from the week before, when Swift watched the Chiefs tight end play for the first time at Arrowhead, Kansas City.
An average of 27 million viewers tuned in to NBC and Peacock to watch the Chiefs hold on for a nail-biting victory against the Jets, as celebrity pals Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and more joined Swift in her suite at MetLife, according to release from the network.
As the Jets pulled to within eight points of the Chiefs during the second quarter of the thrilling Week 4 matchup, viewership peaked at an estimated 29.4 million viewers.
Taylor Swift’s latest appearance at a Chiefs game continued to impact TV ratings
An estimated 27 million viewers tuned in to watch Swift’s new beau Travis Kelce (right) and the Chiefs defeat the Jets on Sunday night
That figure is almost three million more than the 24.32 who watched the Chiefs’ claim victory over the Bears with Swift in the stands at Arrowhead last week
The figure works out as 2.68 million more than the 24.32 million who watched Swift cheer on Kelce and the Chiefs for the first time against the Bears last week.
Across NBC’s digital platforms, including Peacock, the game drew in 1.85 million viewers, marking NBC Sports’ largest streaming audience ever for a regular-season Sunday NFL game, and 42 percent increase from last year’s Week 4 game, which featured Patrick Mahomes facing off against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Swift’s support of her new beau has also attracted a new demographic to the NFL as the Swifties continued to tune in to catch a glimpse of the 12-time Grammy Award winner.
Sunday’s broadcast saw viewership increase among women of all age groups, adding more than 2 million female viewers, according to NBC.
A number of diehard football fans took to social media to slam NBC over their coverage from MetLife, where the camera regularly cut away to shots of Swift and her A-list friends.
One wrote: ‘Please don’t play a Taylor Swift on your TV drinking game… you’ll be hospitalized, if you aren’t already.’
Another added: ‘These Taylor Swift cutaways during Chiefs games have got to go.’
While much of the buildup surrounded the potential of Swift being at the stadium, the most furious reaction came after the Chiefs’ first touchdown, when cameras immediately cut to Taylor and her celebrity pals in their suite.
Given it was Isiah Pacheco scoring the points rather than Kelce, some fans were left seething, instead insisting they should have instead shown the players celebrating on the field.
Swift has stayed very coy about her romance with the pro football player thus far, but she was spotted leaning across to her actress friend Lively during the game and whispering ‘look at him’.
Swift was caught by NBC’s cameras turning to Blake Lively and saying ‘look at him’
As you’d expect, fans went wild after seeing the clip air live on NBC, with one writing on Instagram: ‘She literally can’t believe she’s with the hottest athlete.’
Another, meanwhile, added: ‘She is as smitten as a kitten.’
After the game, it is believed that Swift and Kelce left the stadium separately, with the NFL tight end sticking with his teammates and boarding the Chiefs bus.
Taylor, meanwhile, headed onto private members club Zero Bond in New York City, where she continued the party into the small hours of the morning.
