The various bumper music (music coming in and out of commercial breaks) on NFL broadcasts often gets a lot of discussion. The networks airing NFL broadcasts obviously have significant resources, and they can often get permission to use a wide variety of songs somewhat related to the game, the teams, the location, individual players, and more. But that wasn’t the case for the much-discussed NFL on Fox broadcast of the Chicago Bears-Kansas City Chiefs game Sunday when it came to Taylor Swift.
That broadcast featured many shots of pop music superstar Swift in Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce’s suite. And it featured a lot of on-broadcast discussion of Swift’s presence, and even sideline reporter Erin Andrews asking Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes about that after the game. But it didn’t feature any of her songs as bumper music.
On Wednesday, we got the answer to why that was the case. In a blog post for FoxSports.com, NFL on Fox lead producer Richie Zyons revealed that that wasn’t due to lack of effort or advance notice on Fox’s part. Instead, Zyons wrote that was rather due to Swift’s management declining their request thanks to concerns about it being used in association with discussion of her relationship with Kelce:
Earlier in the week, amid the avalanche of rumors, our bulldog associate producer Rich Gross had sought permission to use some of Swift’s music. Not a chance. Per the FOX music department, Swift’s record label and publishing company denied our request “in conjunction with speculations on or about her private/personal/dating life.”
That’s understandable from Swift’s team. But it is maybe a little unfortunate for the remarkable numbers of people, including Swifties, who tuned into what was otherwise an outright annihilation of a game. Kansas City won that game 41-10, and Fox went away from the game nationally after a 34-0 first half, but it still helped them post quite the ratings numbers. And Fox’s focus on Swift was certainly part of that. Here’s what Zyontz had to say on that:
The first time we peeked in on Kelce’s suite was during player introductions, minutes before the start of the broadcast. Swift was there, seated next to Kelce’s mother Donna, and they both erupted in cheers as the tight end ran out of the tunnel. We played that back on tape early in the telecast. After that, coverage became a matter of balance. Russo showed restraint not taking gratuitous live shots, saving the opportunities for when she reacted to action in the game. Her joyful expression after Kelce scored a touchdown was the image of the day, captured beautifully by our low end-zone cameraman Andy Mitchell.
Fortunately, our announcing crew is very in tune with modern culture. So the events of the day actually galvanized everyone’s mood. A blowout was overshadowed by a social phenomenon, to no one’s detriment outside of Chicago — even though it meant listening to Greg Olsen singing during commercial breaks.
Meanwhile, Zyontz said “I’m not exactly a Swiftie. Jonathan Swift, maybe; Taylor Swift, definitely not.” But Taylor Swift probably works better for NFL broadcasts than references to A Modest Proposal.
