Travis Kelce Scores Big Win After Taylor Swift Eras Tour Appearance
Taylor Swift is joined on stage by Travis Kelce (R), during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Wembley Stadium on June 23, 2024 in London, England. His appearance has led to an increase in new Instagram followers.
Travis Kelce has had a surge in Instagram followers after his debut on stage during girlfriend Taylor Swift's world tour.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end went public with the "Bad Blood" singer in September and has since attended multiple shows of her record-breaking The Eras Tour.
Kelce had been spotted dancing enthusiastically at the concerts, changing friendship bracelets with Swifties—the name of her fan base—and even high-fiving the cast and crew from the show backstage.
However, on Sunday, Kelce took his involvement one step further by actually joining Swift onstage in a new segment of her show at London's Wembley Stadium.
Kelce performed in a full tuxedo, top hat and bow tie during the introduction to her song "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart," from April's The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) album.
Kelce fanned himself with a hand fan, danced around and smiled widely at Swift during his cameo. He completed a heeltap dance move and even picked up the popstar after she pretended to have fainted. Kelce then placed Swift gently on a sofa on the stage.
The surprise performance caused a stir online and helped Kelce gain more than 100,000 new followers in a matter of days, according to analytics brand Social Blade.
In the past 30 days, Kelce has amassed almost 280,000 new Instagram followers and averaging 9,265 per day.
However, the overwhelming majority of his new followers have come since his debut on the Eras Tour stage on Sunday. Kelce gained 105,720 new fans in just four days, thanks to his star turn.
It is not the first time Kelce or someone near him has had a social-media boost, thanks to their proximity to Swift.
The Chiefs got 400,000 new followers in the days after Kelce and Swift went public with their relationship, and a further 400,000 30 days leading up to February's Super Bowl, which they won, with Swift attending to much fanfare.
Kelce's relationship has helped catapult him to international fame, especially among people with little to no NFL knowledge.
"If you took a population base of the 7 billion people in the world, many could name an athlete from global sports such as Formula 1 or English Premier League [soccer]," Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group, told Newsweek in February. His company conducted research into the economic impact of Swift and Kelce's relationship and came up with the figure.
"And that's what this whole viral episode is all about; it has really catapulted Travis and made him a known name in other parts of the world," Smallwood said.
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