Did the NFL change the 2024 schedule to accommodate Taylor Swift’s tour dates?
Though the NFL says otherwise, it certainly looks like the league took the pop star’s tour dates into consideration when planning the 2024 season schedule.
Given that the NFL traditionally has no problem eclipsing other sports on important days such as Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and Black Friday, it’s incredible to think that it may have conceded to Taylor Swift’s “Ears Tour.” Surely that’s not the case.
The NFL & Taylor Swift are in a relationship
According to reports, NFL Vice President of Broadcast Planning, Mike North, indicated that the league needed to factor in Taylor Swift’s U.S. tour dates when creating the 2024 season schedule to avoid broadcasting clashes. After all, one has to assume that a star of Swift’s stature with a fan base that big, would never reschedule her tour.
As things stand, Swift will perform at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins, for three consecutive days from Friday, October 18th to Sunday, October 20th, after which she will travel to New Orleans for another three-day performance at the Caesars Superdome, the home field of the New Orleans Saints. That show will run from Friday, October 25th through Sunday, October 27th. Then, she will head to the Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts, for the final leg of her U.S. tour where she will perform from Friday, November 1st through Sunday, November 3rd. Now, this is where things get interesting. As we can now plainly see from the 2024 season schedule, the Dolphins will be in Indianapolis to play the Colts in Week 7 (Sunday, October 20th), while the Saints will head to LA to face the Chargers in Week 8 (Sunday, October 27th). Finally, the Colts themselves will head to Minnesota to play the Vikings in Week 9 (Sunday, November 3rd). Quite convenient.
NFL's Mike North said the league had to account for Taylor Swift in its scheduling, with her having NFL stadium dates in Miami, New Orleans and Indy. He said no consideration was made to have Chiefs at Bills close to her concert date in Toronto, despite conspiracy theories.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) May 16, 2024
Yet, it doesn’t stop there either. Swift is also due to perform at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the home of MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, from November 14th through 16th and November 21st through 23rd. As luck would have it, the NFL happened to schedule the Kansas City Chiefs to play in Buffalo against the Bills in Week 11 on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, a time at which she won’t be performing. With just a drive of just over two hours separating the two stadiums, it’s quite conceivable that Swift could make it in time to see the two-time Super Bowl champions play, something we imagine she’d want to do with her boyfriend and star tight end, Travis Kelce, being a key part of the Chiefs’ team. Do recall that she attended the Chiefs’ AFC divisional round playoff game in Buffalo last season. Of course, North has since denied that the league scheduled the Chiefs’ game that way to accommodate Swift, referring to the occurrence as “pure coincidence”.
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