Taylor Swift is expected to attend Sunday's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, in which her boyfriend—Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—will try to win his third Super Bowl ring.
Swift hopped on a flight after her concert on Saturday in Tokyo and flew back to Los Angeles where she arrived on Saturday afternoon, thanks to the magic of time zones.
Sunday's game will be the 12th appearance by Swift at a Chiefs game this season, just one appearance away from causing her legion of numerologist fans to raise their eyebrows. Thirteen happens to be the pop star's lucky number. Perhaps, she shouldn't have skipped the Chiefs' away game against the Vikings in October.
Still, Swift's presence at the game could be good news for the Chiefs, if you're a little superstitious.
After all, with Swift in attendance, Kelce's performances have been notably better this season. In the 11 games she attended, Kelce averaged seven catches and 84 yards per game. In the six games she missed, he averaged six catches and 50 yards. Kelce's biggest games this year—12 catches and 179 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers, nine catches and 124 yards against the Denver Broncos, and 11 catches for 116 yards in the AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens—all occurred with Swift in attendance.
The Chiefs also have a significantly better winning percentage with Swift in attendance than they do with her elsewhere: 5-3 with her gone, 9-3 with her present.
Of course, it's far more likely that the Chiefs' victories and Kelce's performances have more to do with coverage breakdowns, and an impressive surge down the stretch (Kelce also caught two touchdowns to go with 75 yards against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Division Round) than with a very famous fan sitting in a luxury box high above the field.
However, Kelce did confirm that he likes playing in front of Swift. In a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the tight end said the couple enjoys supporting each other.
"I love it when Taylor comes and supports me and enjoys the game with the fam and friends," he said. "It's been nothing but a wonderful year, man."
Kelce later told McAfee that he and Swift are just having fun.
"It's nothing more than that, and how much the world wants to paint the picture and make us the enemy, we just have fun with it, and we enjoy every single bit of it," he added.
Super Bowl LVIII kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET. The main broadcast airs on CBS.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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