The Taylor Swift effect on the NFL is real.
The superstar singer’s second appearance at a a Kansas City Chiefs game turned its Sunday Night Football matchup with the New York Jets into a Super Bowl-like event. The game averaged roughly 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII on Fox in January, according to NBC.
The game drew mainstream attention, from talk show hosts to chatter on social media, as anticipation rose for Swift, who attended a second game to cheer on Chief tight end Travis Kelce. Swift made headlines the previous week when she was spotted cheering for Kelce alongside his mom, feeding into discussion of their potential relationship.
Swift brought more star power this time around, with Ryan Reyolds, his wife Blake Lively, Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Levy (who are working on Deadpool 3 together) in attendance alongside the pop star.
The effect was palpable, with the ratings, up 22% from last week’s game, which featured the Chiefs facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game peaked at 29 million when the Jets pulled to within eight points of the Chiefs in the second quarter.
On the streaming side, the game garnered 1.9 million viewers, making it NBC Sports’ largest streaming audience for a regular-season NFL game, up 42% from last week.