No, Taylor Swift Has Not Been Banned from the NFL for Being ‘Too Distracting’

The 2023-2024 NFL season got even more attention than a typical season, thanks in large part to Taylor Swift, who is still dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. While Taylor’s presence at some Chiefs games got plenty of attention, not all of it was positive.

As is often the case with things relating to Taylor, plenty of people were upset that Taylor’s presence at the games was distracting fans from the actual ballgames (even though she usually received less than a minute of screen time over the course of a three hour game). Now, rumors are swirling that Taylor might have been outright banned from the NFL.

Thanks to a widely circulated post on the internet, some believe that Taylor has been told that she can no longer attend any NFL games because she is too distracting.

These rumors are totally false. Taylor has not been banned from attending NFL games, and if she is dating Travis when the next season starts, she’s likely to pop up at at least a few games to support her partner, just the way he does when he attends her shows.

Although the ban is totally fake, there is definitely a contingent of NFL fans who are upset about how often she is shown on screen over the course of a game. Of course, the cuts to Taylor usually don’t last very long, and fans who are upset about how often she’s shown tend to overestimate how often they actually see her. Regardless, it seems that Taylor is going to continue making NFL fans angry as long as she’s around the league.

Gardon Wyceff, who started a petition that has more than 300 signatures encouraging the NFL to ban Taylor, wrote that her appearances at games “is not only annoying, but it’s a slap in the face to football fans who tune in to watch their favorite sport, only to be inundated with her presence.”

Ultimately, though, this backlash is really just a reaction to Taylor’s unique presence in the culture.

Although there are many dominant female pop stars in music today, Taylor is undoubtedly the most successful, and her Eras Tour has already become the highest grossing in history. Travis may have three Super Bowl rings, but he’s unlikely to ever have the same level of success as his partner, which says something given how much he’s accomplished over the course of his career.

Plenty of people love Taylor or like her just fine, but there is a small minority that is hellbent on making sure she stays as far away from the NFL as possible. Even if she isn’t a part of the NFL, though, she’s still likely to be a part of our culture for years to come. Plenty of people love her, including one of the NFL’s biggest stars, and they’re not going anywhere.