Breaking News: NFL chief confirms Taylor Swift impact on schedule as conspiracy theories swirl

The NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning has confirmed the upcoming season’s schedule has been shifted to accommodate Taylor Swift’s concert dates.

But he has denied conspiracy theories the league had attempted to make sure she could attend Kansas City Chiefs games to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce. Swift made quite an impression last season with 13 appearances at NFL games, causing a stir each time she stepped out to cheer on Kelce, starting with a match against the Chicago Bears.

The highlight surely being when the pop star supported Kelce during the Super Bowl in Las Vegas this February, where the Chiefs bagged their second consecutive championship.

With a new season just on the horizon, speculations were rife about potential adjustments to the schedule allowing Swift to continue her streak of appearances. One fervent fan took to X saying: “I’m not knocking Taylor Swift but the NFL bending their schedule around her concerts is DESPERATE” – with another fan going as far as to reply: “Another example of how far the NFL has fallen.”

Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, has spilled the beans on how Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ concert dates were taken into account during the league’s schedule crafting. He said: “We certainly considered the tour dates that hit NFL stadiums. I think she’s in Miami, maybe New Orleans, Indy. We certainly considered those.”

But North addressed the rumours linking the Chiefs’ away game against the Buffalo Bills on November 17 to Swift’s Toronto gig, saying: “One thing we didn’t consider, I saw a lot of conspiracy theorists talking about Kansas City at Buffalo in the middle of the season, right when Taylor’s playing Toronto.

That one definitely did not hit our radar screen.”

Looking ahead, it’s up in the air if Swift will grace as many NFL games with her presence in 2024 as she did last year. Post her European tour leg, she’s got a clear schedule until November, when she kicks off her tour again starting in Toronto.

Hans Schroeder, the league’s executive vice president of media distribution, weighed in on the complexities of the NFL schedule, confirming: “It’s an incredibly challenging puzzle.

“You’re thinking about competitive equality, how we solve for all our media partners, team elements, travel, how we solve for more windows on more continents as we play more,” he informed the Associated Press. ”

But most importantly, how do we create the best schedule for our fans. If there was ever sort of a needle in a haystack-type project, this is it.”