The Chiefs will host the Bills in the AFC Championship this Sunday, but Skip Bayless believes the contest has already been fixed for Kansas City to keep Taylor Swift in the sport.
Swift, who watched the Chiefs alongside Caitlin Clark last weekend, has been at Kansas City games since she and Travis Kelce started dating in the summer of 2023.
And Bayless believes the NFL will rig the AFC Championship to get Swift back to the Super Bowl, after watching Kelce and his team defeat the 49ers last year.
“The memo will go out, just like it did last week, 'make sure Taylor Swift gets to New Orleans for the Super Bowl,'” he said in his show of the same name. “Without her, the NFL loses millions and millions of viewers who will tune in, primarily to see what she's wearing in that luxury box at the Superdome.”
So Mahomes, no matter how shaky he is, must be shored up. “He needs to be protected by the referees, just like he was on Saturday at home against the Texans,” Bayless continued.
'This is the Taylor Swift effect. She is a one-woman ratings giant. Protect her! Support her! She rewards her boyfriend's team with phantom penalties. Take them to New Orleans! The NFL needs Swifties. Protect them! Support them! Make sure the Bosses advance.
Taylor Swift has been able to watch a deep Chiefs run in the playoffs for the second year in a row
And Skip Bayless believes the NFL playoffs are being rigged to keep the singer involved.
Swift and Travis Kelce kissed on the field last year after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
While Swift's Eras Tour limited the number of games she could attend this season, her constant presence in the stands last season, early in her relationship with Kelce, unsurprisingly led to massive ratings.
A Sunday Night Football broadcast in October 2023 between the Chiefs and Jets saw a 53 percent increase. of the season-to-date average for the first three weeks of that time interval.
Among women ages 18 to 24, viewership increased 24 percent, while ratings for women ages 35 and older increased 34 percent, NBC said.
While Swift is expected to be in his usual suite this Sunday as the Chiefs try to reach a third straight Super Bowl, he is giving Kelce his space in game preparation.
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported, Swift returned to New York on Monday following Kansas City's 23-14 victory.
DailyMail.com had photographed Swift and her entourage leaving her Manhattan apartment in two vehicles early Saturday morning.
Swift was seen enjoying last Sunday's game against the Texans with Caitlin Clark.
Swift and her entourage were photographed in New Jersey before returning to Manhattan.
He spent Friday night having dinner with his parents and brother at Nobu in New York before flying to see Kelce.
Tight end Kelce was sensational in the game as he had seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.
It had been a somewhat challenging regular season for the 35-year-old, however, as his 832 receiving yards and three touchdowns were his fewest since his first season as a starter in 2014.
He'll look to move on against the Bills, against whom he totaled just eight yards in a game earlier this season.