ST. LOUIS – This isn’t a football story. It’s not a music story. It’s a love story. A romance you can’t get enough of or can’t stand.
No matter where you stand on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, it’s the talk of town, even on sports talk radio. Randy Karraker, Brooke Grimsley and Carey Davis, who host The Opening Drive on 101 ESPN in St. Louis, recently chimed in with their thoughts.
“People are intrigued by the celebrity couple. I think here in America, that’s where we are right now,” said Karraker.
Overnight it seemed the summer of Swift became the season of “Swelce”. News of their budding romance broke just as the NFL kicked off, bringing a blitz of Swifties who were ready to follow football.
“I’ve had some friends reach out more or less interested in Travis Kelce, what he means to the Chiefs, and how serious this could be,” said Grimsley.
The power couple has revved up NFL TV ratings, jazzed Kelce’s jersey sales and manufactured a marketing machine any company would kill for.
“It’s definitely good for business. It’s good for both parties,” said Davis.
And it’s good for St. Louisan Dee Crawford. She owns Do Me a Favor STL, a design and trending apparel business she runs out of her basement.
Crawford says the Swift-Kelce love story is helping her write a new chapter in her small business success story.
“This idea came to mind, to modify my old Taylor Swift design and add Kansas City in her sunglasses, and put Travis’ number on her shirt,” said Crawford. “I was like, ‘Okay, that’s cute.’ I made it the next day, and it blew up.”
Crawford says the Swift-Kelce apparel she sells on her website and on Etsy currently make up about 60 percent of her business, and she’s got buyers everywhere.
“I knew I had the right fan base and the right customers that were also in support of this relationship to just keep it going,” said Crawford.
The Swift that keeps on giving boosted Crawford’s business again over the weekend. During a show in Argentina, yes, this one where Taylor ran to Travis’ embrace, Swift changed lyrics in her song Karma, giving Kelce a shoutout.
“It’s like Taylor, please stop making these great opportunities for shirts because everyone is DM’ing me wanting a design, but it’s great. It’s fun.” Said Crawford.
So is this couple just a match made in Hollywood or could their Kansas City courtship withstand the test of time?
“I think I came onto the side of ‘Maybe, it is real’ when I saw him traveling to another country to watch her perform,” said Davis.
