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Having conquered the music biz, about to conquer the movie biz and proving one of this era’s most powerful economic and cultural forces, Taylor Swift is lending some of her superstar power to the NFL and NBC.
Swift’s 2014 ‘Welcome to New York’ song supplies the soundtrack to the new promo the league and the network just dropped this morning. A marketer’s dream, the self-proclaimed “Taylor Made for Sunday Night” 30-second clip is bookended with scenes of current Swift boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, as well as packed stadiums and tackles – as you can see:
Like she prominently was at Kelce and the Chiefs’ 41-10 pounding of the Chicago Bears on September 24, Swift is expected in attendance for this weekend’s primetime match-up in the Big Apple between hosts the New York Jets and Kansas City. While praying for the end of the rain that has left parts of New York flooded, NBC undoubtedly hopes to see the ratings rise Fox had last week, so expect to see the cameras frequently cut to Swift and her well-honed surprise face throughout the game.
The SNF promo follows Swift turning down a request from the Murdoch-owned Fox Sports to use her music in their September 24 NFL coverage. “We knew right away this broadcast would be notable less for the game coverage and more for whatever images we captured of the pop superstar in attendance,” wrote Fox NFL lead producer Richie Zyontz online earlier this week of whispers of Swift showing up at the Chiefs/Bears game.
“Earlier in the week, amid the avalanche of rumors, our bulldog associate producer Rich Gross had sought permission to use some of Swift’s music,” he added. “Not a chance. Per the FOX music department, Swift’s record label and publishing company denied our request ‘in conjunction with speculations on or about her private/personal/dating life.’”
Of course, no one knows how to market new product like Taylor Swift, blatantly or not. I mean, the multi-Grammy winner isn’t the first woman to have both a Diamond certified album (2008’s Fearless) and song (“Shake It Off”) for nothing
As beneficial as the singer is to the NFL and NBC, don’t think for a second that Swift isn’t eager to snag the attention of football fans and their families as her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie hits 7,500 cinemas globally on October 13. Coming closely off Swift’s massively successful tour, the AMC-distributed Eras flick looks like it could have a staggering $100 million opening.
Or as Swift sings in “Welcome to New York”: “The lights are so bright, but they never blind me.”
See ya on Sunday Swifties.
