Taylor Swift watched Travis Kelce’s Chiefs win the season’s first game. I was there too — here’s what I saw

Football season is officially upon us, and if last night’s home-opener Kansas City Chiefs game against the Baltimore Ravens was any indication, it’s going to be more of the Taylor Swift-fuelled era for the NFL.
Swift attended the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in support of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and as any savvy Swiftie will tell you, any public appearance made by Swift is done with intention. Even something as simple as going to her boyfriend’s football game can be loaded with meaning, and as a diehard Swiftie myself, it was thrilling to watch it unfold in person and unpack the signature Swift Easter eggs in real time. As usual, she didn’t disappoint: read on for every Swiftian takeaway from last night’s game.
While Swift’s appearance at any Chiefs game is sure to make headlines, last night’s appearance was especially significant. Just days before, an alleged breakup media plan between Swift and Kelce was posted on Reddit. The document was titled “Comprehensive Media Plan For Travis Kelce’s Relations Following Breakup with Taylor Swift” and featured the logo for Full Scope, the public relations team that represents Kelce. The documents quickly gained traction in the celebrity gossip world, only to be swiftly shut down by Kelce’s representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 4. “These documents are entirely false and fabricated and were not created, issued or authorized by this agency,” the company said in a statement to People.
Unsubstantiated gossip about the couple’s relationship is a constant, so it felt noteworthy that Kelce’s PR team decided to address these rumours when so many others go unacknowledged. Ultimately, Swift’s presence at the game sent the strongest message of all: the couple is very much still happily together, thank you very much.
Swift’s game-day outfits have rapidly become fashion blog fodder, and she’s been known to wear preppy outfits accented by sweet accessories from local Kansas City makers featuring her boyfriend’s number (87, for the uninitiated). Last night was a departure: she arrived in full hair and makeup, a knockout Versace denim corset, Grlfrnd denim shorts, and deep red over-the-knee Giuseppe Zanotti boots. The look was completed with a chunky vintage Bulgari coin necklace, various sparkly diamond rings and earrings, and the “TNT” friendship-style gold-and-diamond bracelet famously given to her by Kelce.
There’s no other way to slice it: this outfit was downright sexy, easily one of Swift’s raciest looks to date. TikToker Eli Rallo described the outfit as Swift’s “Princess Diana revenge dress in a Canadian tuxedo form,” interpreting the look as an expression of Swift’s anger towards the tabloids for reporting on the alleged relationship contract. Rallo also suggests that the look indicates Swift is revisiting her “Reputation” era — the album best known for Swift’s vengeful takedown of enemies Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The re-recording of the album has been top of mind for Swift fans lately, many hoping that she’ll announce the release date soon. Although it’s all speculative, the TikTok has garnered 1.4 million views in just 18 hours, with over 235,000 likes and many Swifties expressing their agreement with this read on the look.
Much like Swift’s outfits, there’s always a lot to unpack when it comes to who Swift chooses to associate with at a Chiefs game. In the past she’s filled Kelce’s viewing suite with celebrity friends like Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Ice Spice, Sabrina Carpenter and Hugh Jackman, to name a few. She’s also been pictured at previous games arm-in-arm with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of the beloved Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which is why it was especially noteworthy that Swift and Mahomes were sitting in separate suites at last night’s game.
Mahomes recently found herself at the centre of public scrutiny after liking Instagram posts from Donald Trump detailing his 2024 political platform. The post outlined his intention to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,” “keep men out of women’s sports” and “cut federal funding for any school pushing Critical Race Theory, Radical Gender Ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children,” among many others.
Although Swift hasn’t endorsed a candidate for this year’s presidential election, she has a history of supporting Democratic candidates and values and has directly denounced Donald Trump in the past. In May of 2020, she tweeted “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump.”
Regardless of Swift’s current friendship status with Mahomes, her opting to sit with Kelce’s parents and Chariah Gordon (fiancée of Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr.) instead of Mahomes seemingly sends the message that Swift is literally and figuratively distancing herself from the Trump supporter.
Based on the constant media coverage of Swift at games, you’d assume that she would be shown on the stadium Jumbotron even more than her boyfriend. This couldn’t have been further from the truth: Swift wasn’t shown on the Jumbotron at all during the entire game on Thursday. This came as a surprise to a first-time attendee like myself, but after some digging, I discovered that Swift has actually never been shown on the Jumbotron at a Chiefs game.
“We’re not trying to capitalize on this,” said Chiefs president Mark Donovan in an interview with Front Office Sports. “We’re trying to celebrate it, but it’s not about doing too much or showing her every touchdown or anything like that.” Swift herself certainly wasn’t hiding from Chiefs fans. She opted to sit in the front row of Kelce’s  box, a position that’s directly in front of fans and visible from roughly 80 per cent of the stadium. She cheered and celebrated along with the 73,000 other fans in attendance, and was fully present for every moment of the game.
Oh, and did I mention the Chiefs won?