Super Bowl 2024: Taylor Swift’s popularity leads to surge in viewers of NFL

Taylor Swift’s presence at the Super Bowl contributed to the explosion in TV ratings for the game in Australia and showed how popular NFL has become on these shores.

The Taylor Swift effect has boosted NFL’s fan base in Australia to a new stratosphere, with record television ratings sounding a warning to the established football codes.

With the pop star having landed in Melbourne overnight for her Australian tour, figures reveal just how influential Swift – partner of Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce – has been to the increase of viewership.

Monday’s Super Bowl, in which the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in an overtime thriller, had a 67 per cent increase national audience on Seven from last year, while it was the most watched event in ESPN’s history in Australia.

The Super Bowl was also the most watched televised event ever in the United States, with CBS recording a staggering audience of 123.4 million, surpassing the record set last year when the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles.

Taylor Swift celebrates with partner Travis Kelce after the Super Bowl. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

But it’s the staggering rise in Australia, with 2.7 million people tuning in across Seven and 7Plus, and scores more on ESPN and Kayo Sport, that has stamped the NFL is a new powerhouse in the local sporting landscape.

Reports suggest Swift will inject more than a billion dollars into the Australian economy during her The Eras tour, but she has also inadvertently brought through a new generation of fans to American football that threatens the bases of rugby league and AFL.

Charlotte Offord, general manager of NFL Australia and New Zealand, said Swift added to an already growing fan base.

“It’s undeniable that Taylor has added an extra layer of interest this year, particularly among a different demographic for us, being the younger female demographic,” Offord told Code Sport.

“But we’re already seeing growth quite dramatically in Australian fans who are under 25 males as well.”

Major sporting events are generally thrilled with increases of four or five per cent over 12 months, but a 67 per cent jump is unheard of.

“We’re surprised, but not shocked,” Offord said. “With all the fan trends we’ve been seeing over the last 12 months and the work we’ve been pushing in the market to really grow the sport, we saw consistent rises through all of our games this season.

“Particularly going into the playoffs, we saw really significant jumps in viewership. Even the Pro Bowl had a huge increase in viewership, 113 per cent increase, so those kid of jumps, and when you see the trends from the regular season to the playoffs and through the Pro Bowl, I certainly hoped the outcome we saw was the one we would get.

Taylor Swift's reaction to the Super Bowl winning [e-mail]/Zg0L93X7vF

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 12, 2024

“NFL and American sports have become more accessible to Australians, there are more streaming options available and more ways to watch the game.

“But also, if kids start playing the sport at a young age they’re more likely to become a fan. We’re seeing that through Flag Football, and now it is an Olympic sport.

“Australians, certainly from what I see, resonate quite well with American culture and so there’s an aspect of that younger fan now looking for something different to watch.

“With all this change in pop culture, you can understand why those under 25s are really interested in the game.

“We’re over the moon with the results.

“We opened an office in Australia just over a year-and-a-half ago and we’ve been working to really grow the sport in the market. To see Australians getting behind those efforts with those huge figures and more people watching the game on a Monday, is just fantastic to see.”

But Offord said the NFL has no desire to topple league and AFL as Australia’s dominant football code.

“I wouldn’t say we’re taking on any other code, a lot of the other codes will finish in week four of our season so we’re in a window of opportunity, Australians are hungry for sport and we like to think of ourselves as a complementary sport to the market,” she said.

“So people can be fans of other sporting codes while also becoming a fan of the NFL and watching it through to the remainder of our season.

“We’re certainly not trying to take over the market.

Swift and Kelce surrounded by reporters following the Super Bowl. Picture: Tim Nwachukwu / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

“There is a ton of athletic talent in both Australia and New Zealand. We look at it from a different point of view, these kids may start playing multiple sports at a young age and take a pathway they want to take.

“Again, we want to be complementary to other codes, so what we’re seeing in the Australian market are that kids are playing not just one sport, they’re playing multiple sports, and with NFL Flag we’ve really been able to grow that program across Australia.

“But because kids are engaged, it doesn’t mean they not then playing other sports they’ve always played. It just adds another dynamic.

“So if you go through a rugby league pathway and they aren’t successful, there is another option on the table for them.

“Absolutely I think the NFL is a pathway for young athletes in Australia, both through Flag Football with girls and boys playing, but also on the higher end scale with kids going into the pathway and going into the NFL, and people like Jordan Mailata have opened up that opportunity by showcasing that just because you’re from far away, doesn’t mean you can’t make it.”

Seven’s head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said: “Super Bowl is one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles, and while we think our American friends can take a leaf or two out of our AFL broadcasting playbook, Seven’s NFL coverage only keeps growing, smashing last year’s already strong audience record across broadcast and digital.”

Originally published as Super Bowl 2024: Taylor Swift’s popularity leads to surge in viewers of NFL