York, New York. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)GC images
Taylor Swift was just named Time Magazine's Person of the Year, and there's probably no bigger name in pop culture than Swift. Her Era Tour will gross over $2 billion, breaking all records, and according to Forbes, the impact on the local economy will be $4.6 billion. Just when you think their media exposure is at an all-time high, Swift joins the Kansas City Chiefs' star tight end and the media has simply lost its mind. During Chiefs games with Swift in attendance, the NFL constantly cuts to camera footage of Swift cheering on Kelce and the Chiefs. At the same time, social media is abuzz with speculation and talk about their relationship and whether it was headed for a fall like all of Swift's previous ones.
While all of this is happening, Kelce and the Chiefs have lost four of their last six games — and there's no one to blame but Taylor Swift. Just kidding. But seriously, no celebrity-athlete relationship has been more publicly showcased or garnered more media attention than Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Is it just a coincidence, or could the Chiefs' decline be due to Taylor Swift's celebrity relationship curse?
This isn't the first time a professional athlete has been affected by the celebrity relationship curse. It may have started with David Beckham and Posh Spice, who turned Beckham's career into a media circus full of distractions and public outrage about Beckham. Or maybe you remember Serena Williams' troubles in tennis, which were reportedly related to her relationship with Drake. Then there's Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson, where both Romo and the Dallas Cowboys' fortunes seemed to decline after the relationship.
However, the biggest career killer for athletes is Kim Kardashian and her relationship with the serial athlete is failing. Kim has become extraordinarily successful as a fashion icon, business mogul and undoubtedly a kryptonite for sporting careers. Just ask Reggie Bush: After losing his Heisman trophy, his NFL stats magically dropped after he started dating the reality star. Or Miles Austin of the Dallas Cowboys, whose hands suddenly turned into butterfingers after he was featured as Kim's love interest in episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashian. And who could forget Kris Humphries? The poor guy has gone from NBA journeyman to tabloid magazine following a tumultuous 72-day marriage to the queen of reality TV.
Now to Travis Kelce and the Chiefs. From now until the end of the season, we'll be inundated with images of Swift cheering on Kelce or consoling him after a loss. They are being followed by paparazzi. Is this the extra pressure Kelce or the Chiefs need? Just ask David Beckman about his numerous professional problems surrounding his relationship with Posh Spice, which are blatantly revealed in a recent documentary.
But all of this is what works well in today's world where live sports and reality programming reign supreme. We have both here and the added interest in Chiefs games will drive up the ratings. The reason for this is that we now have even more reason to watch how Kelce and the Chiefs fare the rest of the way. Will they make it last year with the help of their most famous cheerleader or will they fall victim to the curse of the celebrity relationship? The big finale will be whether the relationship survives all this, because if not, Swift will soon be writing songs about Kelce and what went wrong.
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I created the Shaq brand for Shaquille O'Neal's and the Golden Boy brand for Oscar De La Hoya, changing the way athletes were marketed. Instead of just backing products, I positioned them to own their intellectual property and build institutional equity.
I was co-founder and commissioner of AVP Pro Beach Volleyball, uniting men and women under one roof and mandating equal prize money and equal television time for women, a first in sports.
I have pioneered the use of technology to increase brand equity and have most recently focused on advising athletes, brands and media companies on web3's capabilities to engage fans and consumers.
I am the founder and CEO of Management Plus Enterprises (MPE); was CMO of Skechers; President of Skechers Performance Division and board member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
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