If you have a problem with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift getting screen time during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Dan Patrick knows exactly who you should blame.
And it’s not them.
It’s the networks.
Patrick pushed back on the criticism that erupted online after the power couple appeared on the broadcast multiple times during the early minutes of the game. While some fans argued the NHL shouldn’t be turning into a pop culture sideshow, Patrick sees it differently. After all, visibility matters, and if the league can get some from two of the most recognizable names in sports and entertainment, why wouldn’t they lean in?
“The internet did not treat them kindly because they’re like, ‘They don’t have an affiliation with either of these teams. We don’t have to show them 50 times within the first 15 minutes of the game.’ But don’t blame Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift for going to the game,” said Patrick. “I don’t know, doesn’t that say something about your sport that they would like to go and be part of it? Watch it. I don’t know.”
Patrick’s point is less about celebrity worship and more about what their attendance represents. The NHL doesn’t often draw Hollywood-level star power. So, when two cultural icons voluntarily attend a Stanley Cup Final, Patrick says that hockey purists shouldn’t view it as a distraction but rather as an opportunity to market the game, which is currently lagging behind in ratings.
If anyone deserves the heat for how it was handled, Patrick argues, it’s the networks, not the guests.
“It doesn’t matter. She could go to a Chiefs game , and her boyfriend is playing for the Chiefs, but all of a sudden — it’s the networks who do this,” Patrick continued. “She doesn’t say, ‘I’ll go, but you have to show me 15 times.’ It doesn’t work that way. Blame the networks. Don’t blame her and him. The fact that they went to the game tells you, ‘Man, that’s pretty exciting.'”
But here’s the thing about Swift. Chris Russo spent more time complaining about seeing her at Super Bowl LVIII and Super Bowl LIX combined than she was actually on screen. And since the initial starstruck frenzy, networks have largely adjusted. Swift is no longer overexposed during NFL broadcasts. If anything, the coverage has normalized. Maybe it’s different with the NHL. But that’s exactly Patrick’s point.
This is different for hockey.
The NHL isn’t used to this kind of star power, which is why Patrick argues that Swift and Kelce’s presence is a win, not a distraction. Blame the networks if it felt excessive, but don’t ignore what it means for the sport that they were there at all.
