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Legendary ESPN personality Chris Berman said pop superstar Taylor Swift is "good for football" amid scrutiny from some fans over the attention her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has received.
"Absolutely, and I'll tell you why," Berman responded when asked by 'Pardon My Take' co-host PFT Commenter during his annual appearance on the Barstool Sports podcast. "I think she's legitimate. I'm in my mid-thirties, I'm cheering on my guy and I'm having fun at the game so if you just take it from that part I think that's pretty legitimate.
"I mean, she fills a stadium of 80,000, so it's not, 'oh, I need to be seen again,' right? I think anyone who thinks that's wrong," he added
Berman, 68, then acknowledged that Swift's presence led to a spike in NFL interest among a younger female demographic, specifically mentioning recent conversations he had with women who claimed to have enjoyed watching football after initially tuning in to just to see Swift.
"So, it was like, I heard it twice in a day, getting a haircut and in a bank and going, 'anything that makes somebody a pro football fan from nothing can't be all bad," Berman said.
Swift has attended all of the Chiefs' games that haven't conflicted with her touring schedule since September and is expected to attend Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday (February 11) despite scheduled 'Eras Tour' concerts in Japan this week. Some NFL fans have criticized the coverage dedicated to Swift's attendance and relationship with Kelce, while others have celebrated it, as the singer "has generated an equivalent brand value of $331.5 million for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL," Apex Marketing Group recently confirmed to Front Office Sports.
Swift broke her silence on her relationship with Kelce while being featured as Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' in December.
Swift praised Kelce for "adorably" putting her "on blast" when he revealed on his 'New Heights' podcast last July that he attempted and failed to give her a bracelet with his phone number while attending her 'Eras Tour' concert in Kansas City. Swift added that the two had spent "significant" time together before she initially attended a Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in September, at which point they were already "a couple."
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” Swift said. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”
“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” Swift added. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”