How Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Romance is Bringing Dads and Daughters Together

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have dinner at Waverly Inn on Oct. 15, 2023, in New York City.

Although some "dads, Brads and Chads" don't love the buzz surrounding Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce at Chiefs games, there are plenty of folks who are thankful—including many fathers and daughters.

So far this NFL season, the pop superstar has attended 10 Chiefs games to cheer on her tight end beau, prompting Swifties to tune into the matchups in hopes of catching a glimpse of the "Is It Over Now?" songstress. Viewership among teen girls spiked 53% when Swift attended the Chiefs-New York Jets game on "Sunday Night Football" in October, NBC Sports reported.

It makes sense, then, that dads would be thrilled about spending more time with their daughters watching football, an activity that perhaps previously disinterested them.

One X user recently shared, "As a father... I think it’s pretty cool that Taylor Swift has increased the viewership in the NFL.. and most importantly how fathers and daughters are now bonding in a new way! Maybe I’m just being an old sentimental fart."

Meanwhile, another person tweeted: "I actually feel bad for the Brads, Chads and Angry Dads who spent the year complaining about Taylor Swift interrupting their football because I spent the season trading Swift/Kelce memes with my 14-year-old daughter (who previously didn't care about football) and now it's like a fun thing we share? Which is freaking awesome? (Also she loves that I met Jason once.)"

A Connecticut dad named Keith Stoeckeler told Today his 7-year-old daughter is now a football fan because of Swift. And he's loving it.

“For me, it felt like the Super Bowl, which would be the only other time that anybody would remotely want to sit down and watch football with me,” he said during a Jan. 19 segment. “It was appointment viewing. It was not just ‘Oh, OK, football’s on. We’ll watch it with you. We want to watch that."

Although some folks affiliated with the NFL—like retired coach Tony Dungy, who said the "Taylor Swift effect" is "disenchanting" people from sports—have voiced their opinions against the media frenzy surrounding Swift, it's clear that plenty more are perfectly OK with her influence.

As one father on X wrote in an open letter to Dungy, "Your comments about Taylor Swift are so out of line and wrong. I'm sitting here with my 14 year old daughter watching the game talking about her interest in Taylor and her cool jack. My daughter knows so much more about football because of Taylor."

The Chiefs face off against the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the playoffs on Sunday, Jan. 21. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Next: ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Hits Back at NFL Coach Tony Dungy's 'Ridiculous' Taylor Swift Criticism