Sept. 28 (UPI) — Travis Kelce already was popular among football fans, but his jersey sales and social media follower counts have been surging after Taylor Swift showed an interest in the NFL star.
Kelce’s @KillerTrav Instagram account grew to more than 3.5 million by noon EDT Thursday, four days after Swift sported his jersey while cheering for him at the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Chicago Bears in Kansas City, Mo.
Before the game, he had some 2.8 million followers on Saturday, according to social media analytics website Social Blade.
In addition to Instagram, Kelce gained more than 570,000 followers on TikTok and another 25,000 on X since Saturday. Combined, the number of people following him increased by 1.3 million on the three social media platforms.
Digital platform Fanatics — the NFL’s official e-commerce partner — reported earlier this week that sales from Kelce’s No. 87 jersey spiked nearly 400%.
Kelce, who first spoke about his interest in Swift during an episode of his Gridiron Heights podcast, which he hosts with his brother, fellow NFL player Jason Kelce, was seen leaving Sunday’s game with the pop star.
He thanked Swift for attending the game during another episode Wednesday morning.
“Shoutout to Taylor for pulling up,” Kelce said on the podcast. “That was pretty ballsy. I just thought it was awesome that everybody in the suite had nothing but good things to say about her, the friends, and family.
“She looked amazing, everybody was talking about her in great light, and on top of that the day went perfect for the Chiefs.”
Kelce and the Chiefs will face the New York Jets at 8:20 p.m. EDT Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. Sources told Front Office Sports and TMZ earlier this week that Swift is expected to attend the game at MetLife Stadium.
