Potential Taylor Swift appearance draws new football fans to Patriots-Chiefs game Sunday
FOXBORO – Julia Marlin of Providence has never been to a Patriots game, but she has her eyes on tickets for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I'm hoping that if I sit in the lower bowl, beneath where they have the suites, that maybe I'll get lucky, and I'll end up underneath where she is," she explained.
The "she?" Taylor Swift.
Rumors have surrounded Swift's potential appearance at Gillette as a fan ever since she began publicly dating Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce this fall.
It's the potential of seeing Swift in the stadium – which even Julia Marlin admits is small – that draws her to her first game.
"I feel like football hasn't really made much of an effort to appeal to young women," she said. "It's not really the core of their fan base. But maybe this will get more women interested in football. Who knows?"
For other Swifties, this is the crossover of the century.
"Saturday in the rain at Gillette was the absolute best event that's ever existed in that stadium, that include AFC Championship games," explained Jake Duhaime of Boston.
The 39-year-old is a huge NFL fan, but also attended every night of the Eras Tour when Swift came to Gillette, spending thousands of dollars to sit front row during the infamous Saturday rain show.
"This is a crossover," he said. "Now it's become so much more than the game on the field. It's what happens off the field as well."
Duhaime purposely got tickets in the Suites at Gillette so he could be in the concourse where Taylor will likely be sitting if she attends.
He predicts her relationship with Kelce could receive negative attention if – on Sunday – the Patriots beat the Chiefs, who have gone 1-3 since the relationship went very public.
"Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles. There was Adam and Eve," he said. "Is Taylor Swift going to break up your dynasty in the making because your tight end couldn't control himself?"
The Taylor Swift Economy, as it's been called, brought in an estimated $10 billion nationwide over the course of the Eras Tour, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Some local businesses are hoping to continue capitalizing on that impact, even as Swift possibly comes for the game Sunday.
At Sam Adams Downtown Boston Tap Room, a "Cozy Cardigan" special brew (a winter warmer with notes of orange peel) will be on tap this weekend, and fans are welcome to come for a game viewing party on Sunday.
"[Taylor Swift] comes to town, and she's got the kind of presence to her even if she's not performing, she's going to draw because she's such an influential artist and person," explained Head Brewer Megan Parisi.
Plus – if Swift is at the game – watching it on TV at the brewery, she says, is a guaranteed option.
"The beer is going to be fresher and cheaper for sure, and you're not going to miss anything on our big screen. You're going to see her."