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Taylor Swift’s NFL screen time is not a real problem.
There is an unreasonably large group of people who have decided that cameras occasionally panning to the biggest pop star in the entire world for a few seconds during Kansas City Chiefs games equals Taylor Swift ruining not only NFL football, but the entire United States of America.
Now, I could understand the angst if cameras focused on Swift rather than live game action. But that’s not happening. And the amount of actual screen time Swift is getting is laughably minimal compared to the disproportionate number of people who are mad online about her.
Swift was at the AFC Championship Game in Baltimore between the Chiefs and Ravens, and while cameras did occasionally cut to her, the amount of time she spent on screen was negligible. Over the course of a game that lasted three hours and nine minutes, Swift appeared on screen for 44 total seconds, per this post on Threads.
Over the course of the entire regular season, Swift appeared on screen for .46% of the available screen time per game — approximately 25 seconds for each game — per the New York Times. We probably saw more of Taylor Swift on her VISA commercials that aired during those games than actual shots of Taylor Swift at the games.
The vitriol is so weird. Swift is, by all accounts, kind and decent and down-to-earth. She’s an incredibly successful performer, with her worldwide Eras tour bringing in over a billion dollars so far. She understands that her success on this tour is dependent on so many people, from backup singers and dancers to truck drivers. Instead of paying lip service to these people she gave them actual money.
For the truck drivers, those bonuses were reportedly $100,000 each. The overall dollar amount of bonuses she paid out to her team totaled over $5 million, and she reportedly was paying people a fair wage before the bonuses. She also didn’t just send out checks. She included a handwritten note to each person. She donates a ton of money to food banks in the cities where she performs — support that’s been crucial as food banks nationwide try to accommodate increased need in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
Swift’s humility impressed Ed Kelce, Travis Kelce’s dad, when he met her.
“We’re sitting in the suite, she gets up and in the front room, she gets up to go get a drink or something and she starts picking up empty bottles, cans, plates that are scattered around. Because in the suites everybody gets stuff and you empty it down wherever you can,” the Kelce patriarch told People Magazine about meeting Swift for the first time.
“And I’m just thinking, I don’t think she got the diva memo. She didn’t get the spoiled musician. She doesn’t know how to pull that off. And that really to me said a whole lot.”
Swift will be at the Super Bowl despite having an Eras Tour concert in Japan on the same date (hooray for the International Date Line). Cameras will certainly pan to her — the same way they cut to celebrities every single year during the Super Bowl. And people will certainly complain.
But if you’re one of the folks complaining about a few seconds of screen time for America’s Sweetheart while she cheers on her man at the Super Bowl, you need to get some real problems.
