Taylor Swift’s appearance on the New Heights podcast offers a playbook in fan engagement that sports marketers can’t ignore. From expanding audiences to building long-term loyalty, her strategies reveal lessons every sports team and brand can apply today.
At Elevate, we analyzed exclusive audience intelligence through our EPIC platform, which builds rich consumer personas to uncover who fans are, how they spend, and how they engage with culture. Our analysis of Taylor Swift’s crossover into sports highlights powerful lessons in fan engagement, showing sports teams and brands how to expand audiences, deepen loyalty, and activate new markets in 2025 and beyond.
Why Taylor Swift’s Fan Engagement Matters for Sports Marketing
When Taylor Swift joined New Heights, the sports podcast hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce, it wasn’t just a celebrity crossover. It was a case study in how cultural icons can grow sports audiences, especially among women, families, and younger fans. Our data reveals how Swift’s engagement strategies translate directly into actionable tactics for sports brands, teams, and marketers.
Relatability Builds Trust
Swift’s support for Travis Kelce wasn’t framed as a promotion but as a genuine connection. Joking about beer pong or tossing a football made her accessible to sports fans. The impact? Relatability builds bridges that expand fandom into new cultural spaces.
Our data shows Swifties are 16% more likely than U.S. adults to engage in lifestyle and pop culture interests that overlap with sports. What does that actually look like? The findings show Swifties are 2–3 times more likely than U.S. adults to engage with sports-related interests (Olympics, figure skating, gymnastics, volleyball, softball, swimming, fitness). These overlaps show cultural bridges into sports fandom.
Those cultural overlaps didn’t just stay abstract. They showed up in real life. When Swift entered the NFL conversation, those bridges became new pipelines into the sport.
Expanding Audience Boundaries in Sports
Swift brought new fans into the NFL ecosystem from dads and daughters bonding in stadiums to Swift-themed fantasy football leagues.
She herself reflected on this dynamic: “I would look out and see a lot of bonding happening between generations of people.... one of my favorite things was when the fans would come up with their own traditions.” (New Heights Podcast, 48:25–48:51).
Our findings show Swifties are around 7% more likely than U.S. adults to have children in the household, highlighting how crossover moments with her fanbase open new family-driven fan pipelines.
Persona Spotlight: Diego the Family Entrepreneur
For someone like Diego, a 39-year-old family entrepreneur balancing his business and two kids, these touchpoints transform sports into shared rituals. When his children connect with the game through Swift-inspired traditions, Diego’s own engagement deepens, reinforcing loyalty at both the household and individual level.
And these new fans don't just show up on Sundays. They stay engaged all week long through digital touchpoints, memes, and social conversations, a multi-channel loyalty that mirrors Swift’s own playbook.
Multi-Channel Fan Engagement Drives Loyalty
Swift keeps fans engaged through multiple touchpoints, from vinyl drops to game-day outfits. Every appearance sparks conversation. What's hidden under the surface takes engagement a step further.
Swift emphasized that her famed “easter eggs” are intentionally tied to music, not her personal life: “I’m never going to plant an easter egg that ties back to my personal life... I want easter eggs to be a certain thing... if you know, you know.” (New Heights Podcast, 51:40).
The data shows Swifties are 19% more likely than average to engage across multiple digital and social platforms, a sign of the multi-channel loyalty that sports teams can replicate.
Strategic, Long-Term Fan Journeys
Swift’s choices are rarely random. Each move is part of a broader arc that keeps fans invested over months. We found Swifties consistently over-index across digital, cultural, and entertainment categories, with multiple affinities scoring 115–145+ above average.
This pattern reflects repeat, sustained engagement rather than one-off spikes, exactly the kind of long-view behavior sports teams should aim to cultivate.
Move Beyond One-Off Promotions
Create experiences that connect today’s game to future storylines, like an album rollout. ” As Jamie Alvarez, Vice President of PR and Communications at LA Galaxy, puts it: “Being a Swiftie has deepened my appreciation for relevancy. Not just in the moment, but in how stories evolve and connect with people over time… the most powerful brand experiences are those that build emotional continuity.” For sports, that means creating connections that don’t just celebrate a single play or game but evolve into stories fans carry with them long after.
Cross-Pollinate with Pop Culture
Swift proved that sports and pop culture can fuel each other. Teams should collaborate with cultural figures who resonate across both communities. Alvarez notes that “fans aren’t just following scores; they’re following stories of triumph, heartbreak, loyalty, and identity.” Swift’s ability to voice emotions that resonate beyond music mirrors what sports can achieve when they frame their narratives in culturally attuned and emotionally authentic ways.
Our insights reveal Swifties over-index in cultural crossovers, with some entertainment affinities scoring 145 or higher compared to the average. That kind of crossover appetite signals a major opportunity for sports teams to partner outside traditional lanes.
Persona Spotlight: Harper the Urban Professional
This appetite reflects fans like Harper, a 28-year-old professional in New York, who is deeply plugged into cultural trends through TikTok, Instagram, and fashion media. For her, a team’s partnership with a pop culture figure, whether a musician, designer, or influencer, is more than a promotion. It’s a statement about relevance and identity, and it determines whether she’ll buy in as a fan.
Create Intergenerational Fan Experiences
Swift transformed NFL Sundays into family moments. Sports marketers can use this as a blueprint for reaching new households. Our data shows that Swifties are more likely to live in households with children, creating natural opportunities for intergenerational fandom experiences that sports brands can leverage.
Alvarez observes: “Whether it’s a lyric that resonates years later or a surprise moment that feels personal, it’s about creating connections that reach beyond core audiences and invite broader communities in. To really resonate, we have to be relevant in a way that’s inclusive, intentional, and culturally attuned.”
For sports, that means designing family and community experiences that don’t just entertain in the moment but become lasting rituals passed down across generations.
Persona Spotlight: Keisha the Executive Mom
For Keisha, a 51-year-old executive and mother of three, the chance to share premium game-day experiences with her family is more than entertainment; it’s a way to pass down traditions, connect across generations, and reinforce her own identity as both a professional and a fan.
Build Relationships, Not Gimmicks
All of these lessons point toward a bigger theme: relationships over gimmicks. Swift’s fandom proves that when every touchpoint feels intentional, loyalty compounds over time. That’s the mindset sports teams must embrace moving forward.
Every Swift interaction feels intentional. Sports teams can follow her lead by treating tickets as entry points into ongoing fan relationships through digital content, exclusive access, and community touchpoints.
Conclusion: A Playbook for Sports Fan Engagement
Taylor Swift isn’t just a pop star. She’s a fan architect. Her New Heights appearance demonstrates how strategic cultural crossover can expand audiences, deepen loyalty, and drive long-term growth. For sports marketers, the takeaway is clear: engagement isn’t about gimmicks, it’s about momentum. By thinking long-term, cross-cultural, and family-first, sports brands can cultivate the kind of loyalty that makes fans feel like insiders — whether that’s Harper, the urban professional seeking relevance and identity, Diego, the family entrepreneur turning games into household rituals, or Keisha, the executive mom passing traditions down to her kids.
References
New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. Taylor Swift on New Heights. YouTube. Published August 18, 2025. Accessed August 27, 2025.
Thanks for reading this extended Elevate version of our Sports Business Journal Feature.
