Taylor Swift cheers during the Super Bowl.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Super Bowl garnered 53 seconds of airtime.That was worth $12.4 million if you factor in the cost to run a 30-second commercial in this year’s game.Many companies pay big bucks for similar star power to promote their brands during the Super Bowl.
Taylor Swift was a big part of the storyline leading up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, her 13th NFL game since she and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made their relationship public in September.
Sports gambling websites even accepted bets on how often CBS would show Swift during the broadcast.
By the end of the game, Swift appeared on screen for 53 seconds, according to the Houston Chronicle. And that airtime was worth about $12.4 million if you factor in the cost to run a 30-second commercial — $7 million — in this year’s Super Bowl.
Tylor Swift and Travis Kelce embrace on the field after the Super Bowl.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
A bargain for the NFL
Since Swift attended the game for free, her appearance was a bargain for the NFL and CBS. Companies and brands that want to partner with a celebrity for added star power have shelled out big bucks in the past.
For example, Verizon reportedly paid Beyoncé $30 million to appear in its 60-second Super Bowl commercial. Before that, other notable and expensive cameos included Larry David’s 30-second commercial for FTX in 2022 and Ben Affleck’s 30-second ad for Dunkin’ in 2023, which paid the celebrities $10 million each, CNN reported.
What’s more, there may have been more people watching this year’s Super Bowl than ever before. Ahead of the game, several industry experts predicted a record-breaking viewership, thanks in part to Swift’s popularity.
If this year’s big game does break viewership records — the numbers are expected to be released on February 13 — at least some of that can be attributed directly to Swift’s popularity.
A Seton Hall Sports Poll published three days before the Super Bowl found that 21% of the more than 1,500 respondents said that somebody in their household planned to watch the Super Bowl because Swift was expected to be there. For people aged between 18 to 34, the number grew to 41%.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt discussed the growth of the team’s fan base due to Swift during an interview on CNBC in January, saying the team’s female audience grew “leaps and bounds” after she started attending games.
“It’s been a very interesting, very fun year having the two of them dating, the attention that’s been focused on the Chiefs,” Hunt told CNBC.