Chief priority: How the Super Bowl could impact Taylor Swift’s Australian tour

With 151 concerts across five continents, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour was always going to be a mammoth logistical effort. In a couple of weeks, the tour hits Asia, with Swift set to touch down in Japan before finally making her way to Australia. There’s a wrinkle now: a likely appearance at the Super Bowl, where her boyfriend Travis Kelce will be playing, smack bang in the middle of her tour dates.

Kelce plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, who beat the Baltimore Ravens on Monday to secure their spot at the NFL Super Bowl on February 11 (US time). Swift has been making regular appearances at his games since November, with post-game footage of her celebrating alongside Kelce going viral online. Her appearance at the final would be all but guaranteed if it weren’t for the clash with the Asia leg of her tour. Let’s break it down.

The singer will wrap up her final Japan show in Tokyo on February 10. That gives her six days to rest, recover and relocate from Japan to Melbourne, where she will begin the Australian leg of her tour the evening of February 16.

If Taylor Swift goes to the Super Bowl, will she be able to kick the jet lag before touring Australia?Credit: AP

Kelce will storm the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11, the night after Swift’s final show in Japan. According to NFL Media, she intends to take a direct flight from Tokyo after her concert (which is projected to end at around 9.30pm, Japan Standard Time), arriving in Las Vegas at roughly 7pm (US time) the night before Super Bowl Sunday.

But she couldn’t stop there. If the reports are true, Swift would need to travel about 18 hours to Melbourne, probably arriving on February 13 (local time). This would be the earliest possibility, considering the Super Bowl will likely end at around 6.30pm (US time), and there is a 19-hour time difference between the two cities. Factoring in the 15-minute drive from the stadium to the Harry Reid Airport (the closest international airport), Super Bowl traffic and take-off and landing times, she would probably arrive in Melbourne about 9am on February 13. And that’s if there are no airport delays, extended play at the Super Bowl, or celebrations if the Chiefs won.

That would give her only about three days to orient herself, rehearse and – perhaps hardest of all – kick the jet lag before performing the first of her three shows at the MCG, followed by a run of dates in Sydney.

It’s technically possible, but is it feasible?

Timezone test

Swift will be performing seven shows across Melbourne and Sydney over two weeks – a tiring feat for any performer, let alone one who recently traversed multiple timezones over just a couple of days. The distance between Tokyo and Las Vegas is about 8900 kilometres, which would take approximately 12 hours and 25 minutes on a direct flight. Thanks to the 17-hour time difference between the two cities (with Japan being ahead), Swift would be able to make it to Las Vegas in time to have a whole day to rest before heading to Allegiant Stadium to cheer on her Lover.

The time difference between Las Vegas and Melbourne is less forgiving. Instead of gaining a day, like she would when travelling from Japan to Las Vegas, Swift would practically lose a day upon her arrival in Australia. Though she’s currently undergoing a more robust rehearsal regime before her Japan shows, having only two or three days before the first Melbourne concert would probably mean she’d have to start rehearsing the day after arriving – jet lag and all.

Veteran performer

It would be a tight turnaround, but Swift is no stranger to this. During the US leg of her tour last year, she often performed three consecutive shows per city. In Los Angeles, she did this twice in a row with only one day to rest in between – that’s six shows in a week. In December, Swift told Time Magazine she dedicates only one day to “full” recovery between tour legs. Every other day is used to prepare for upcoming dates in some way.

According to Swift’s website, she usually has four to six days to travel to the next country on her tour schedule. However, some of the breaks are shorter, such as between Amsterdam and Zürich, in which she will only have a three-day break. Notably, these cities are much closer than Melbourne and Las Vegas and have no time difference.

Committed Lover

It may be whirlwind, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Swift squeezed in the Super Bowl. She has attended each of Kelce’s games since she finished the first leg of her international Eras Tour in November. Videos of the pair celebrating the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win on Monday have been circulating online, further embedding Swift in Kelce’s Super Bowl journey. She will also most likely be flying on a private jet, which means she could actually sleep during her flights.

It’s less certain whether Kelce would leave with Swift, or join her later. And another concern could be the extra carbon emissions the double cross-Pacific trip would emit, given the singer’s current track record. But it’s a trip she probably won’t want to miss. After all, all’s well that ends well to end up with Kelce.

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