Here’s Proof Taylor Swift Didn’t Put Travis Kelce on the Map

He’s not just the guy on the Chiefs.

We know Travis Kelce has been proving his worth on the football field for several NFL seasons now, but he was also well on his way to stardom even before dating the biggest pop star in the world, Taylor Swift.

Kelce, 34, and Swift, 34, have been the talk of the town since going public with their romance back in the fall, and Swifties have since been buying up Kansas City Chiefs merch and visiting football stadiums just to be in the same room as the “Anti-Hero” songstress.

But despite some initial claims that the football player was dating Swift for the attention of it all, or that Swift’s level of fame had “put him on the map,” there’s plenty of proof that Kelce was a star in his own right before ever even meeting Swift.

A recent report from the Wall Street Journalfound that the two-time Super Bowl winner has been featured in 375 commercials during NFL broadcasts this season, which is more than any other athlete or celebrity. But companies haven’t just been seeking him out over his highly-publicized romance, as his deals were signed even before the couple began hanging out.

According to WSJ, Kelce’s endorsement deals with Pfizer, Campbell Soup and more companies were signed before going public with Swift, and the commercials were already filmed as well.

However, some sponsors were able to use the content to their advantage once he and Swift hard-launched their relationship, with many of them rushing to put out the pre-filmed commercials to get the most out of Kelce’s recent spotlight.

And we can’t say we blame them, as the “Taylor effect,” has definitely been in full swing since she first showed up to one of his games at Arrowhead Stadium in September. After that day, Kelce’s jersey sales jumped nearly 400 percent, per NFL.com. 

Kelce and his older brother, Eagles player Jason Kelce, had already reached success with their podcast, New Heights, especially after their sibling matchup at Super Bowl LVII, but Swift has still given them a boost in viewership, increasing it by 50 percent in just the first week that she showed up for her first Chiefs game this season, per Bloomberg.

What can we say? Swift has just got that thing that we like!