Kansas
‘Sharing the KC Love’: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce romance boosts Kansas City economy
The budding romance between pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce is propelling the city from a national destination to an international hot spot and boosting small businesses along the way.
“Everybody loves a love story,” said Jessica Palm, the vice president at Kansas City Area Development Council, which is responsible for bringing businesses and talent to the area. “Kansas City is the backdrop to this love story unfolding.”
On the map, Kansas City lies at the heart of the United States on the Missouri-Kansas border. And for the past 150 years, the two-state community has used a heart as an icon and “Sharing the KC Love” as a motto, capturing the hospitality visitors find among locals.
“When I started in this role we were talking about Dorothy and Toto,” said Palm, who has been in the role for 13 years. “Now we are talking about global stages and the international entrepreneur, pop star hanging out in Kansas City.”
According to Visit KC, the Eras Tour pumped $48 million directly into the city. Couple that with Swift dating Kelce, and the city is abuzz about all of the hangouts the two are frequenting and the businesses they are supporting.
“It is a time to be in Kansas City,” Palm said. “If you’re trying to get a reservation at Prime Social, good luck.”
Prime Social is the Cameron Mitchell restaurant where Swelce (the fun portmanteau the internet is using for the couple) dined following Swift’s first NFL appearance. The trendy spot has received 4,900% more Google searches since the September hangout, and it’s only one of the many businesses receiving a Swift boost.
You put me on and said I was your favorite
Chris Harrington and his girlfriend, Kathryn Cacho, run a vintage shop turned memorabilia store, Westside Storey, in Kansas City. On Oct. 22, the two put together a box of five vintage sweaters and a custom-made beanie after receiving an online order. When Harrington double checked the shipping address, he noticed the box would be going to Swift’s camp.
Cacho took a video of the package and posted it to TikTok before sending it off.
On Dec. 10, when the Chiefs played the Buffalo Bills, Harrington noticed Swift wore a rare ’90’s, black-and-red sweatshirt to Arrowhead Stadium. The sweatshirt he sold.
“She got what’s considered in the Chiefs community a ‘grail’ sweatshirt because it’s a very hard sweatshirt to find,” said Harrington, 38. “That sweatshirt was in my closet two months ago. And then to see it on the Time Person of the Year, one of the biggest pop stars in the world wearing it, is huge.”
A week later, on Dec. 17, Swift wore the Kut the Knit beanie Cacho made with a red line around the crown and a black 87 on the brim as a nod to Kelce’s jersey number.
Swift’s dad, Scott, showed up in a red sweatshirt also packed in the original box.
Cacho’s phone blew up with text messages and DMs from social media. She sold out of beanies with 200 orders coming through her website. Harrington’s business did 10 times the sales he’s used to in the days following the football games.
There are still three sweatshirts unaccounted for, so football fans stay tuned.
More: Could Chiefs be ‘America’s team’? Data company says Swift may give team edge over Cowboys
Say you’ll remember me, sitting in a private room
Gary Worden got a call on Oct. 24 around 8:30 p.m.
“That’s when I usually get a call that something is broken or maybe there’s a flooding,” said Worden, who runs the Argentinian steakhouse Piropos in Kansas City. “But my manager said, ‘Taylor and Travis are here!’ So I said, ‘Give them the private room. Make sure the staff keeps quiet and don’t make a fool of themselves.’”
Since Swelce dined at Piropos, which translates to “if beauty were a sin, you’d never be forgiven,” reservations have been harder to come by for patrons. The business has seen about 20% growth.
“I hate turning people down,” Worden said. “We have been taking as many as we can, but it’s been very, very busy.”
It’s been a long time coming
This may be just the tip of the Swift iceberg for Kansas City. Palm is bracing for a surge in momentum heading into 2024.
“The word is getting out about Kansas City,” she said. Panasonic, a Japanese company, is building a $4 billion plant for a 4,000-person operation to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. Brittany Mahomes, wife to quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is an owner of KC Current and the National Women’s Soccer League team’s stadium, which will be the first women’s professional sports venue in the world. And the airport just opened a new, single terminal.
“I cannot go to a meeting without the first three questions being about Taylor Swift,” Palm said. “What does this mean for Kansas City? Or wow, have you seen Travis Kelce’s jersey is the number one jersey in the U.K.?”
With Kelce buying a new multi-million-dollar home and Swift staying more often in the Midwest, the only question is will the city of love become their mainstay home?
Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network’s Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
The Kansas City Chiefs won on Saturday, meaning the AFC Championship Game will be in Missouri next Sunday. It’s the seventh straight AFC Championship Games with the Chiefs in the game, and they have hosted six of them.
- In 2024, the Chiefs beat the Ravens in Baltimore (the only away game)
- In 2023, Kansas City beat the Cincinnati Bengals at home
- In 2022, KC hosted the Bengals but lost in overtime
- In 2021, the Bills went to Arrowhead and lost
- In 2020, the Tennessee Titans came to Kansas City to lose.
- In 2019, the New England Patriots beat the Chiefs in overtime in Arrowhead
The Chiefs beat the Ravens in Kansas City in Week 1 to open the 2024 season. The Bills were able to knock off the Chiefs, but it was in Buffalo in November.
Kansas City will have an extra day of rest with the Bills and Ravens playing Sunday night — and the winner has to travel.
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Caitlin Clark has never been shy about her Kansas City Chiefs fandom, and her superstardom allowed her to enjoy Saturday’s game with coveted company.
The Iowa women’s basketball legend and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year was spotted in the same box as Taylor Swift during the team’s NFL Divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans.
According to Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star, Swift invited Clark to the game when Clark attended one of the pop star’s Eras Tour concerts.
Clark and Swift were even caught on camera chatting during the game.
Swift is famously dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is trying to help his team become the first team in NFL history to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.
After a long wait thanks to a first-round bye, Kansas City Chiefs playoff football is officially back. Saturday will see the reigning Super Bowl champions host the Houston Texans, a team they recently faced off against less than a month ago. This time around, the stakes are even higher and both sides will duke it out with a spot in the conference title game on the line.
How will the game unfold? The Kansas City Chiefs On SI crew makes its predictions for the divisional round of the postseason.
Joshua Brisco: Against all recent history, I’m picking the Chiefs to do something they never did in the 2024 regular season: score more than 30 points in a game. This isn’t all about the Chiefs’ playoff experience and pursuit of history, either. The offense — with a healthy Hollywood Brown and a well-rested suite of weapons — finally has enough firepower to make fans forget the slow-and-steady offensive slogs of KC’s midseason survival. I find myself becoming more worried aboutJoe Thuney and Mike Caliendo at left tackle and left guard than most, but Thuney should be stable enough to prevent any disasters. With the return of cornerback Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs may also have the league’s best remaining defense.
Prediction: Chiefs 31, Texans 13
Jordan Foote: With all due respect to DeMeco Ryans and the Texans, we’ve seen this type of game unfold before. Despite Houston boasting a tremendous defense, Kansas City has the benefit when it comes to quarterback play, coaching, rest and playing environment. Add in a fired-up Travis Kelce and the returns of Watson and Chris Jones, and you’ve got a recipe for a win. I’m rolling with another eight-point Chiefs-Texans margin, albeit with the visitors doing some window-dressing late to make things look closer than they actually were.
Prediction: Chiefs 31, Texans 23
Zack Eisen: Between sitting players in the season’s final week and having the bye, it seems like the Chiefs haven’t played in forever. The good news is the extra time allowed them to get a key piece back in Jaylen Watson. The defense was easily one of the best in the league when he was in the lineup, and it would be great to see that version return for the playoffs. On the other side of the ball, it’s playoff Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid. This may be the first time the Chiefs score more than 30 points all season. I expect a dominant performance from this team, as they have been waiting all year to get to the postseason.
Prediction: Chiefs 35, Texans 16
Mark Van Sickle: The Chiefs tend to dominate the divisional round under Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. They are playing an opponent they just beat a few weeks ago and coming off plenty of rest to get ready for this playoff push. The Texans are a solid team and worthy opponent, but there is too much on the line for the Chiefs to lose at home in this spot. The defense will have everyone available to them for the first time all season (Charles Omenihu started the season on injured reserve, then Watson was on it when he came back), and that’s not good for the Texans who have had injury issues all season on offense. Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ offense will be about as healthy as it’s been all season as well. Look for Mahomes to be Mahomes and the Chiefs to win and actually cover the spread!
Prediction: Chiefs 31, Texans 17
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