If your NFL team goes out and signs a superstar in the offseason, you may have Taylor Swift to thank for it.
There’s no denying that the pop superstar has been a massive boost for the league. Since Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the league has done everything they can to capitalize on her presence and her massive fanbase. The presence of Swift has reportedly made the league an extra $1 billion, so no doubt the league is hoping that the relationship doesn’t fizzle out any time soon (and that Kelce doesn’t decide to hang it up after their loss in the Super Bowl a couple weeks ago).
The league recently announced that the salary cap, which the maximum amount a team can spend on player salaries in a given year, is expected to increase between $22-26 million for the 2025 season, a larger increase than teams had previously expected over the team’s $255 million cap increase in 2024. And the 2024 cap was a $30 million increase over 2023.
The NFL salary cap is determined by a formula that is largely based on the league’s revenue the previous season. And prior to 2024, the salary cap generally increased by about $10 million per year (with a notable exception during the COVID years when the salary cap actually decreased following the 2020 season before correcting in 2022).
So teams were naturally excited to learn that the salary cap would once again be increasing by more than they expected, meaning they’ll have more money to either sign or retain star players and fill critical needs for the team.
And of course, many think that the teams have Taylor Swift to thank for the larger-than-expected increase.
The woman you wanted to boo, did this. Remember that
https://t.co/eNhCspB4C4
— Jenna (@jennaxkc) February 19, 2025
The NFL teams and players need to give a big thank you to Taylor Swift. https://t.co/jTVI8eblfv
— Pamela (@PamelaAmy87) February 19, 2025
everyone say thank you Taylor Swift https://t.co/DksTM3wvmj
— sarah (@fangirlfornfl) February 19, 2025
Taylor Swift simply attending games helped with this a lot but the average football fan will still go batshit over the broadcast showing her for a couple seconds https://t.co/w7KM7BzqQ2
— ay (@spoonlocks) February 19, 2025
S/O to Taylor Swift for helping increase the salary cap.
— It'sAPhillyThing (@EaglesStrictly) February 20, 2025
Taylor Swift has brought in one billion dollars for the NFL since she started dating Kansas City Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce.
As a result, the NFL is raising the salary cap by over 25 million.
Via @SInow pic.twitter.com/a5KP86zP7T
— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) February 20, 2025
Taylor Swift attending games is the reason why the salary cap got increased y’all are welcome
pic.twitter.com/vfwpbvAYC8
— Jacob
(@HitStickHicks) February 19, 2025
(@HitStickHicks) Now, is Taylor ACTUALLY responsible for the cap increase? Sure, the NFL probably gained some revenue from the Taylor Swift effect that they were able to pass on to teams. But as it turns out, the percentage of the salary cap increase is more or less in line with previous (pre-COVID) years:
Google is free.
Taylor Swift isn't the reason the salary cap went up, in fact the 7.67% increase is right in line with previous years. https://t.co/SmW3ckoBV2 pic.twitter.com/BzlTLBtGSC
— 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝘿𝙚𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙨 (@TheThomasDeLaus) February 20, 2025
And not only that, but inflation over the past couple years has raised the price of…well, everything.
“Taylor Swift raised the salary cap $53M in 2 years”
Uh I feel like inflation gets more credit here than her just saying
— NBA Slime (@TerryFranconia) February 20, 2025
That’s not saying that Taylor Swift hasn’t had an impact on the NFL’s revenue. It’s clear that she has, or the NFL wouldn’t have used her in their promos, wouldn’t show her on TV during the games, and wouldn’t be promoting her on their official social media channels. They know that she brings new eyeballs (and more money) to the games, and if there’s one thing the NFL is good at, it’s making money wherever they see an opportunity.
But it also seems a bit overly-simplistic to claim that Taylor Swift is the reason for the salary cap increase when so many other factors go into it, not the least of which is inflation and the economy.
Regardless, teams are no doubt happy that they’re going to have more money to play with in 2025. And hopefully that means my Saints can finally move on from Derek Carr and get us a true starting quarterback in New Orleans. If that happens, I’ll be the first to write a thank-you letter to Taylor Swift.
The post Swifties Think Taylor Swift Was Responsible For The NFL’s Larger-Than-Expected Salary Cap Increase first appeared on Whiskey Riff.