Roger Goodell Says 'Having the Taylor Swift Effect is Also a Positive' for NFL

Whether or not you like the occasional shots of Taylor Swift cheering on Travis Kelce during Kansas City Chiefs games, you can bet the NFL is loving her presence, especially leading into the Super Bowl.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed as much during his press conference on Monday:

"Having the Taylor Swift effect is also a positive," he said. "Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, they seem very happy. She knows great entertainment and I think that's why she loves NFL football. I think it's great to have her a part of it. Obviously it creates a buzz, another group of young fans. Particularly young women."

As you are acutely aware by now, Swift—who won Album of the Year for the record-setting fourth time at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, surpassing Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder—is dating Kelce and occasionally is shown cheering him on during Chiefs broadcasts.

That has annoyed a certain cross-section of NFL fans, though it's been harmless enough and has opened up a brand new audience for the sport, and not in a small way.

As Ariana Cohen of CBS 8 wrote, "Marketwatch reports that Swift's association with the NFL has boosted the league's brand value by over $122 million in just a few months. Her impact on female viewership is staggering: a 53 percent increase among those aged 12-17, a 34 percent rise in those over 35 and 24 percent in the 18-24 demographic."

Kelce's brother, longtime Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, believes the NFL has been smart about leaning into Swift's attendance.

"The attention is there because the audience wants to see it," he told WCPO last week. "If people didn't want to see it, they wouldn't be showing it, I know that. She is the quintessential artist right now in the world, singer-songwriter. She is an unbelievable role model for young women across the globe. So I think the NFL would probably would be foolish not to show her."

It's also not a new phenomenon. NFL broadcasts featured Gisele when she was married to Tom Brady, or Jessica Simpson when she was dating Tony Romo. Courtside celebrity sightings are regularly featured during NBA games.

Few of those moments have become a singular storyline to the same degree as Swift becoming a Chiefs fan, however. That is probably the perfect storm of the modern state of Internet culture, Swift's enormous and rapturous following and the NFL wisely capitalizing on the moment. You won't catch the league complaining about it, that's for sure.