The Chiefs will host the Bills in the AFC Championship this Sunday, but Skip Bayless believes the contest has already been rigged for Kansas City so that Taylor Swift remains around the sport.
Swift, who watched the Chiefs alongside Caitlin Clark last weekend, has been a fixture at Kansas City games since her and Travis Kelce began dating in the summer of 2023.
And Bayless believes that the NFL will rig the AFC Championship to get Swift at the Super Bowl again, after she watched Kelce and his team defeat the 49ers last year.
‘The memo will go out, just as it did last week, ‘make sure Taylor Swift makes it to New Orleans for the Super Bowl,” he said on his eponymous show. ‘Without her, the NFL loses millions and millions of viewers who will tune in, mostly to see what she’s wearing up in that Superdome luxury box.’
‘So Mahomes, teetering though he might, must be propped up. Must be protected by the referees, just the way he was Saturday at home against the Texans,’ Bayless continued.
‘This is the Taylor Swift effect. She is a one-woman ratings juggernaut. ‘Protect her! Prop her up! Award her boyfriend’s team with phantom penalties. Get them to New Orleans! The NFL needs the Swifties. Protect ’em! Prop ’em up! Make sure the Chiefs advance.’
Taylor Swift has been able to watch a deep Chiefs playoff run for a second straight year
And Skip Bayless believes the NFL playoffs are being rigged to keep the songstress involved
Swift and Travis Kelce shared a kiss on the field last year after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl
While Swift’s Eras Tour limited how many games she could attend this season, her consistent presence in the stands last season – early in her and Kelce’s relationship – unsurprisingly led to massive ratings.
One Sunday Night Football broadcast in October 2023 between the Chiefs and Jets saw a spike of 53 percent from the season-to-date average of the first three weeks of that time slot.
Among women between the ages of 18-24, viewership was up 24 percent, while ratings for women over 35 years old increased 34 percent, NBC said.
While Swift is expected to be in her customary suite this Sunday as the Chiefs try to get to a third straight Super Bowl, she is giving Kelce his space in the buildup to the game.
As exclusively reported by DailyMail.com, Swift returned to New York on Monday following Kansas City’s 23-14 win.
DailyMail.com had photographed Swift and her entourage leaving her Manhattan apartment in two vehicles early on Saturday morning.
Swift was seen enjoying last Sunday’s game against the Texans alongside Caitlin Clark
Swift and her entourage were pictured in New Jersey before she returned to Manhattan
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She spent Friday night at dinner with her parents and brother at Nobu in New York before jetting to watch Kelce.
Tight end Kelce was sensational in the game as he racked up seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.
However, it had been a somewhat challenging regular season for the 35-year-old as his 832 receiving yards and three touchdowns were his fewest since his first season a starter in 2014.
He’ll look to keep it going against the Bills, whom he totaled just eight receiving yards against in a game earlier this season.