The NFL tends to do what it wants without letting other schedules get in the way. Just ask the three Saturday College Football Playoff games — scheduled well before the NFL’s release — that will now compete with a pair of NFL games in December.
But Taylor Swift isn’t college football, and while the world doesn’t revolve around her just yet, the NFL is at least admitting that some of its scheduling decisions do.
The two paths of the biggest draws in American culture intersected for much of the 2023 season with Swift dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce during the second half of the year and running through the playoffs. The result was a spike for the already-popular Chiefs as fans often waited with bated breath to see if she would be attending the latest games, going as far as tracking her flight going from Japan to Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl.
How did Swift wind up impacting decisions made in the schedule for the 2024 NFL regular season? Here’s what you need to know.
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Swift got to enjoy a bit of a break from touring in the second half of the NFL season to have the chance to attend Chiefs’ games and watch Kelce play, but she’s largely going to be on tour in the 2024 season.
Swift draws large enough crowds that she consistently needs football stadiums to pack fans into seats. That means NFL stadiums, and there are three cities in particular that will be hosting the Eras Tour on Sundays during the football season: Indianapolis, Miami, and New Orleans.
In an interview with reporters, NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North explained the league took into consideration her stadium dates in those three cities since she had already made stadium plans for her shows.
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Swift was slated to perform the Eras Tour in Miami from Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 20; in New Orleans from Friday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 27; and in Indianapolis from Friday, Nov. 1, through Sunday, Nov. 3.
Here’s what’s going on for the Dolphins, Saints, and Colts in those respective weeks:
In each case, the NFL has the home team for Swift’s concert playing on the road, all of which are in the afternoon. Swift’s concerts typically start at night. So, while the stadium won’t be used for NFL teams that weekend, fans in those cities can also watch the game, then go to the concerts.
There had been some speculation the schedule for the Chiefs had been impacted. For many, it seemed too great a coincidence that Kansas City would be at Buffalo on Nov. 17, the same Sunday Swift would have open after finishing the Toronto leg of her tour the night before.
North splashed cold water on the conspiracy theory.
“I saw a lot of conspiracy theorists talking about Kansas City at Buffalo middle of the season, right when Taylor’s playing Toronto,” North said, per the Associated Press. “That one definitely did not hit our radar screen.”
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Swift will be taking a break from touring before the start of the NFL season, leaving her open to attend each of the Chiefs’ first five games before a Week 6 bye.
Following the bye, she will be performing during Kansas City’s games against the 49ers and Raiders in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively, but she will be free for all but the team’s Week 14 game against the Chargers.
Here’s a look at the U.S. leg of Swift’s Eras Tour:
MORE: Buy Taylor Swift Era Tours tickets in U,S.
Here’s the Chiefs’ 2024 schedule:
Edward Sutelan is a content producer at The Sporting News.
