Super Bowl Sunday will be one for the books this year. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco will meet in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV from 2020. Instead of Miami as the setting, Las Vegas will provide the backdrop for the Super Bowl. While that might have its unique challenges, it’s where the roads bring us. Among those riding on that road is pop mega-star Taylor Swift.
By now, you know that the super popular singer is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift‘s mass appeal has created a unique situation for the NFL. The league is at an astronomical high in popularity and viewership right now. They do not “need” help, but having Swift around doesn’t hurt things, either. Despite much crowing, it’s been “quality over quantity” for Taylor, the NFL, and its broadcast partners.
As the Chiefs, 49ers, and the NFL march toward Super Bowl Sunday, it seems clear that Taylor could be at the game. She, though, will be performing at the historic Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, on February 7, 8, 9, and 10. Super Bowl 58 goes down on February 11. It would be awfully tight if it were to happen.
Famed NFL producer Fred Gaudelli recently spoke to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. The longtime producer, who’s worked for 33 years on various different networks (NBC for many of those, Amazon currently), has worked the Super Bowl before. Seven times. If his thoughts are any indication, Gaudelli thinks the world of the potential crossover event.
“I would consider it a gift from the gods,” said Gaudelli.
Quite the compliment and quite the statement. The piece details that there will be a need to cover Swift, if she’s there, and how to weave her into the broadcast. It suggests that familiarity with this – CBS has gotten plenty of Chiefs games and, over the last few weeks, have had their two big playoff games – will absolutely help.
Gaudelli cited the last Super Bowl he worked, Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, as an example of what to potentially expect, and what Swift and the situation brings to the table:
“Now you have Taylor Swift, who also is someone that has a direct connection to the game because she’s a significant other of one of the stars of a team. Maybe you don’t show her for every Kelce sequence, but she’s going to be part of sequences when he makes a play.”
It will be fascinating to watch CBS try to navigate through this situation. Given that the network is planning wall-to-wall coverage of the game throughout Super Bowl Sunday, it is fair to suggest that, at a minimum, a “TaylorCam” could be on its way for her potential arrival. It is a gold mine of content and eyeballs ahead. All that’s left is to see how it plays out.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022