20% of Viewers Say They Rooted for the Kansas City Chiefs Because of Taylor Swift

How big was the Taylor Swift effect on the Super Bowl? Her impact on viewership of CBS’s Super Bowl LVIII telecast will continue to be debated even after ratings for TV’s biggest event of the year come out.

But it’s undeniable that Swift — who jetted from Tokyo to Las Vegas to cheer on beau Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s Super Bowl — has ratcheted up interest in the NFL and is responsible for recruiting a new cadre of fans to pro football.

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Here’s a new data point on the Swift-ization of the NFL: 20% of 2024 Super Bowl viewers said they were rooting for the Chiefs because of Kelce’s relationship with the global superstar, according to a flash survey conducted by consumer research firm Numerator. The poll was taken after the Chiefs clinched a 25-22 overtime defeat of the San Francisco 49ers.

Overall, 48% of viewers surveyed said they were cheering for the Chiefs, compared with 37% for the 49ers and 13% for neither team (with the remainder in the “don’t know” category).

However, Swift has also been a polarizing figure among NFL fans — some of whom somehow think she’s a “distraction.” In response to the statement, “I think Taylor Swift is a distraction for the NFL,” 34% of consumers surveyed by Numerator “somewhat” or “completely” agree; 32% neither agree nor disagree; and 34% “somewhat” or “completely” disagree, according to the researcher.

Chicago-based Numerator said it began fielding the Super Bowl LVIII survey of nearly 800 U.S. adults 18 or older upon the completion of the game to gauge sentiment regarding the game, commercials and celebrations.

Other findings from Numerator’s “quick-pulse” Super Bowl LVIII survey:

Most viewers (81%) said they paid attention to the game, while 19% said they paid “little or no attention”
82% of Super Bowl watchers said they watched the halftime show, followed by the fourth quarter (71%), second quarter (70%), first quarter (70%), third quarter (68%), overtime (65%), pre-game show (39%) and the post-game show (27%)
When asked which Super Bowl commercials were their favorites, 29% cited the Dunkin’ spot with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tom Brady and Jennifer Lopez (29% of respondents), followed by the Budweiser/Clydesdales ad (22%), M&Ms with Dan Marino and Scarlett Johansson (15%), BMW with Christopher Walken and Usher (13%), and State Farm with Arnold Schwarzenegger (13%)
Respondents least favorite Super Bowl commercials were: Apartments.com with Jeff Goldblum (15%), Bud Light with Peyton Manning and Post Malone (11%), Booking.com with Tina Fey (11%), Temu (9%) and Bodyarmor (9%)

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