Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce and singer Taylor Swift are more than just an A-list couple: The two have blended the worlds of pop culture, music and the NFL and introduced new fans to the league. They have supported each other's careers since they began dating, both showing up to stadiums to watch one another.
The veteran tight end has attended Swift's "The Eras Tour" concerts, while the superstar singer is often seen cheering on Kelce and the Chiefs at home and away games.
For the sixth straight year, the Chiefs played in the AFC Championship and beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10, and advanced to their second consecutive championship and their fourth in five years. Swift was in Baltimore when K.C. defeated the Ravens and while she will likely be at the Super Bowl to cheer them on again, things will be a little more difficult this time.
Swift performed in Tokyo the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, which Kelce will be playing in. Her final show of the Japan leg was Saturday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. Tokyo time (JST). The Super Bowl is in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Thanks to time zones, Swift has some time to make it to the big game and has already departed Tokyo and is headed for Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. Her private jet, named "The Football Era" is expected to arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport at 3 p.m. local time.
Journalists saw multiple people exit minivans and use umbrellas to block the view of a person boarding the private jet at the airport, near the private jet area.
Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of the East Coast, meaning she is going back in time, in a way, as she travels back to the United States, making things slightly easier. Her concert reportedly ended around 9:12 p.m. JST, which is 4:12 a.m. PT on Saturday.
Luckily for Swift, she did not have to worry about going through long security lines at the airport and having delays for her flight, but traveling to the game is still involved.
🇯🇵 Statement from the Embassy of Japan on Taylor Swift’s Reported Travel from Japan to the United States ✈️🏈 Are you ready for it? pic.twitter.com/wFKadehTJk
— Japan Embassy DC🌸 (@JapanEmbDC) February 2, 2024
"We know that many people in Japan are excited to experience Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, so we wanted to confirm that anyone concerned can be Fearless in knowing that this talented performer can wow Japanese audiences and still make it to Las Vegas to support the Chiefs when they take the field for the Super Bowl wearing Red," the statement said.
While the travel does give her just under a day of wiggle room to make the game, it is not as easy as just catching a flight and being ready to go. Swift is known for her dedication to her tour and her fans, meaning nothing is done at 50%.
After four straight days of performing in front of tens of thousands of fans, Swift will understandably be a bit worn out. In the past, she has talked about how exhausting it is to perform multiple shows back-to-back. The Grammy winner says she spends the day after the run of shows recovering.
"I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there," Swift said, per Time. "It's a dream scenario. I can barely speak because I've been singing for three shows straight. Every time I take a step my feet go crunch, crunch, crunch from dancing in heels."
Just as an NFL player needs time to recover from a game, performers need time to recover from shows. Screaming and cheering at a football game certainly has a different energy level than laying in bed and not speaking, so even if she can travel to the game in time, it will definitely be exhausting.
Super Bowl LVIII goes down Feb. 11 on CBS. The game will also be broadcast on Nickelodeon and streamed on Paramount+.
