Why Taylor Swift skipped Travis Kelce’s game against the Falcons

Taylor Swift decided not to travel with Travis Kelce to the Kansas City Chiefs’ first away game of the season against the Atlanta Falcons. Swift was not seen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium when kickoff began at 8:20 p.m. The singer is usually photographed arriving about an hour before kickoff; this is the first game of the season that she has missed.

Kelce during his game against the Falcons

Swift’s absence is understandable, however, as she was photographed with Gigi Hadid in New York City on Saturday night. Swift attended Kelce’s previous two games, including last Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Swift brought her mother, brother and aunts to watch her boyfriend play.

Swift at the game last week

Although Swift missed this week’s game, she plans to be back in the stands. We weekly reported Wednesday that Swift plans to attend as many Chiefs games as possible during her current tour break. She will resume her Eras Tour shows in Miami on October 18.

A source said Swift’s interest in football is genuine. “Taylor has grown to love football and is thrilled the season is back,” they said. “She loves being in the football community. It’s a break from work for her and Travis is happy that she’s fully integrated into his world.”

Swift also spoke with Time last December about how much she has grown to love the sport. “Soccer is great, it turns out,” she said. “I’ve been missing out on something my whole life.”

She added that she is not trying to get attention at Kelce’s games or intentionally appear on the NFL broadcast. “I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in,” she said. “There’s a camera about a half-mile away and you don’t know where it is and you have no idea when the camera will put you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m going to be shown 17 times or once.”

“I’m just here to support Travis,” she continued. “I have no idea if I’m going to be shown too much and upset a few dads, Brads and Chads.”

Alyssa Bailey is senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees celebrity and royal coverage (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). Previously, she worked at InStyle And Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she enjoys running around Central Park, having people take #ootd photos of her, and exploring New York City.