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Taylor Swift’s attendance at NFL games has helped bring in female fans — but the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders did it first.
“You know, they say Taylor Swift has had an effect, an economic effect and everything else,” Cowboy Cheerleaders director, Kelli Finglass, exclusively told Us Weekly, referring to Swift’s 2023 appearances at boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs games.
Finglass, who was a Cowboys cheerleader herself before overseeing the team, revealed that having female fans isn’t new to her girls.
“I will say from our experience women and children are a huge part of our fan base,” Finglass explained while promoting Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. “So that’s kind of always been a part of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ world.”
Current DCC member Victoria Kalina exclusively told Us that she heard Swift, 34, was responsible for some young women’s newfound love of the sport.
“I remember listening to an interview with Taylor Swift and there were some girls and they were like, ‘Yeah we only bought tickets so we could maybe get a glimpse of Taylor Swift,’” Kalina recalled.
The cheerleader noted that her mom has had similar interactions with young fans while watching Kalina on the field.
“My mom has encountered some people at the games where they’re like, ‘Yeah we’re only here to watch the girls,’” Kalina shared. “So there’s definitely that audience too and we’re hoping to reach even more of that with this show.”
Since Swift and Kelce, 34, went public with their romance in fall 2023, the Chiefs have seen an uptick in fans, mostly female, wearing shirts that read, “Go Taylor’s boyfriend” or similar phrases to NFL games.
Swift’s attendance at the 2024 Super Bowl in February earned even more eyeballs as Swifties tuned in to catch a glimpse of the Grammy winner. (Kelce, for his part, has been spotted at several of his girlfriend’s Eras Tour stops all over the world in recent months.)
NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell revealed in a February press conference that Swift’s relationship with Kelce, who plays tight end, has been “wonderful” for the sport.
“I think it’s great to have her a part of it,” Goodell, 65, said. “It creates a buzz, it creates another group of young fans — particularly young women — that are interested in seeing, ‘Why is she going to this game? Why is she interested in this game?’”
He called the “Taylor Swift Effect” a “positive” for the league, adding, “Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, and they seem very happy. She knows great entertainment, and that’s why she loves NFL football.”
Swift, however, isn’t the only famous face that has popped up at NFL games over the years. The Cowboys have their own loyal celebrity followers, including Kelly Clarkson and Denzel Washington. No matter how big the name, the team’s cheerleaders try to remain unfazed.
“Sometimes they’ll get called out. We have, like, a little time out clip where our big screen will hop over to the [crowd telling them], ‘Oh, say hi to blah blah blah in the stands today,’” Kalina told Us of how they spot A-listers. “And they’ll be showing them on the big screen but other than that I don’t think we really know when they’re in the stadium because the stadium is so massive.”
The squad doesn’t usually have time to notice the famous crowd as their jobs during the games are complex and require a lot of concentration. Viewers will get a first-hand look at the Cowboys Cheerleaders’ work ethic when Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders premieres on Thursday, June 20.
“I personally enjoyed that peak behind the curtain,” Finglass said of the show’s premise. “This show does show that talent, and the audition and the competition part in the first couple of episodes.”
She teased that it also “goes into their personal lives, follows them at home, follows them at work.”
Finglass explained that unlike CMT’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, the show isn’t all about the tryout process. “You see some of their highlights and some of their low moments and so it humanizes them,” she added. “And I hope people are inspired by that honest and rare insight.”
Fans previously watched the Cowboys cheerleaders’ journey from training camp to their first game on the long running CMT series, which ended in 2021. Netflix’s fresh show will highlight even more of the girls’ lives as part of the most iconic cheer squad.
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America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders will go beyond the training process and show the squad during the NFL season. There will also be “unfiltered access” to the team during the seven episodes, according to the official synopsis.
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders is now streaming on Netflix.
With reporting by Sarah Jones
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