The high-society event of this millennium took place at Madison Square Garden this weekend and, as expected, UFL head of officiating Dean Blandino stole the show.
Blandino sported a black three-piece morning suit with a silver vest and black tie to the wedding of global pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Saturday, clearly intent on turning heads while flanked by his NFL on Fox colleagues Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen.
Dean Blandino is the funniest person I’ve seen yet that they invited to this wedding pic.twitter.com/7G2pbXd157
— Connor Happer (@ConnorHapper) July 4, 2026
Blandino was one of many sports media A-listers to witness the nuptials of Swift and Kelce, whose romance has elevated the couple to status as America’s de facto royal family.
In addition to Fox’s lead NFL play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt and No. 2 NFL analyst Greg Olsen, who were pictured with ref icon Dean Blandino at a reception, Fox’s lead NFL analyst Tom Brady attended the July 4th affair, as did sideline reporter Erin Andrews, studio host Charissa Thompson, and studio analysts Michael Strahan, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman.
Outside the Fox family, plenty of other sports media heavy-hitters made the cut.
The anchors of ESPN’s daytime studio lineup, Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith, both attended the event. NFL Network and ESPN Radio host Rich Eisen attended with his wife and veteran sportscaster Suzy Shuster. ESPN lead NFL play-by-play voice Joe Buck and his wife, longtime sports reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck, were pictured headed to the wedding. Prime Video NFL analyst Tony Gonzalez made the pilgrimage for a fellow member of the tight end’s union, as did his panel colleagues Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Andrew Whitworth. Even TNT Sports NHL analyst Wayne Gretzky got the nod.
But we all know there would be no Taylor and Travis without everyone’s favorite on-air ref. We’ll keep this in mind the next time Blandino is breaking down a pass-interference call involving No. 87 in red.
Congrats to the newlyweds!
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.