When Travis Kelce first began dating Taylor Swift he made a quietly firm request – one that perhaps shows how much he values teamwork above the spotlight.
According to Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan, Kelce asked that Swift’s music not be played, and that she not be featured, at home games, even when she was in attendance. That request, Donovan said, set the tone for how the franchise would handle their public romance.
Even as Swift became arguably the most high-profile fan in Chiefs history, drawing enormous media and fan attention each time she showed up at Arrowhead Stadium, the team stuck to its word.
The game-day playlist doesn’t include a single Swift track, and the stadium’s big screens refrain from showing her, even when cameras regularly pick her up for broadcasts.
“We never showed Taylor on our big board.I joked with him [Kelce] early on in the first year we never played a Taylor Swift song in the stadium when she is in the building,” Donovan told Kay Adams, highlighting the respect the organization had for Kelce’s priorities.
In choosing this path, the Chiefs, and Kelce, made it clear that football comes first. Donovan recalled that during their early games dating Swift, there was a clear conversation about treating this like any other player’s relationship and don’t capitalize on it.
No desire to make it a spectacle
That decision has resonated deeply within the locker room and among fans alike. Donovan admitted that the franchise has benefited from the heightened attention, but emphasized that growth and success were already well underway before Swift entered the picture.
Her presence didn’t create the momentum, just accelerated it, shining a brighter spotlight on the organization without changing its values.
Rather than promoting or profiting off the relationship, the organization opted for balance, letting Swift support Kelce as a fan, without turning her into a sideshow. Donovan framed it plainly: “We’re not going to monetize it.”
