America’s Favorite New Couple and The Impact of Social Media on the Financial Landscape
If you haven’t heard of them both, you’ve probably heard of at least one. And if you haven’t heard of either of them, well, you will now.
Future National Football League (“NFL”) Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, and pop-culture superstar singer Taylor Swift, are the apple of American media’s eye. The two started dating amidst a flurry of rumors, and the media noise reached its climax when it was announced that Taylor Swift would attend the September 24th Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears.
That night’s NFL broadcasters and camera crew were often caught discussing or filming Swift rather than the players down on the field. Fans, pundits, and lay people took to social media to post about the celebrity power couple. Their relationship’s presence on social media was so profound that it “caused” Kelce’s NFL jersey sales to rise over 400%. The NFL announced Swift’s attendance for the following week’s prime-time Chiefs game against the Jets. The outcome? A sold-out stadium. Furthermore, the NFL went so far as to change its photo on X to a trio of images of Taylor Swift at the Chiefs-Jets game and state, “Chiefs are 2-0 as swifties” on Instagram.
This Swift-Kelce craze highlights the potential for the pop culture and social media engine to abruptly impact the financial landscape at any point in time. Word-of-mouth on social media permitted the NFL to accrue real profits from mere celebrity attendance at a game. With increasing online presence and ever-improving social media acuity, organizations are well-equipped to influence their business economy swiftly.