It’s safe to say Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce could afford to rent out (several) restaurants every day for the rest of their relationship … no matter how long they last.
Swift and Kelce being a potential romantic match broke the internet in September when the Grammy winner accepted his invitation to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri. (Kelce had first publicly pursued Swift in July via his podcast, and a source later told Us Weekly that had “hung out” once before the game.)
The idea of one of the biggest names in music and one of the most successful tight ends in NFL history linking up caused chaos across social media, with fans (and haters) debating who is more famous — and who has more money in the bank.
“Boy math is being surprised that Taylor Swift’s net worth is 25x more than Travis Kelce,” one person tweeted. (In June, Forbes estimated that Swift was worth $740 million.)
Another user wrote, “People saying Travis Kelce is clout chasing and getting his ’15 seconds of fame’ because of Taylor Swift do realize he is the greatest TE of all time and a two time Super Bowl champion right?”
“I’m really gonna start fighting sports people saying taylor is with travis for pr literally what pr does she need?? she’s the biggest artist in the world. she does not need him name or his money. she ate ranch and ketchup and now heinz is mixing ranch and ketchup like please stfu,” a third fan declared, referring to Heinz’s limited edition “Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” sauce.
While the biggest (and most obvious) takeaway is both Kelce and Swift are very successful — and very rich — Us is taking a closer look at the numbers:
Football vs. Music
Kelce initially signed a four-year $3,126,304 contract with Chiefs, which included a $703,304 signing bonus, in 2013. Four years later, Kelce’s contract was extended, and he inked an impressive five-year $46,842,000 contract with the team and a $10,000,000 signing bonus. For the 2023 season, Kelce’s salary will be $11,250,000.
Swift, for her part, kicked off The Eras Tour in March. CNN reported in August that the tour is expected to gross $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone. How much will Swift — who kicks off the international dates in November — see in her bank account?
In addition to dropping Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in 2023, Swift will release 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27, which will result in more album sales and ongoing streaming residuals as she owns the rights to the songs for the first time. Dow Jones estimated that she will rake in $345 million in 2023, pocketing $228 million from the tour, $65 million from her back catalog and $27 million from the rereleases. (Note: these numbers were estimated before news broke that Swift was releasing Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie in October. The advance ticket sales have made more than $65 million.)
Social Media and Endorsement Deals
Kelce only boasts 3.5 million Instagram followers to Swift’s 273 million fans. While the numbers aren’t exactly comparable, Kelce may directly profit off of his profile via Instagram ads more often. The football star reportedly makes $5 million annually on endorsements with several brands, including Nike, T-Mobile, Old Spice, McDonald’s, Walgreens, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bud Light, Pfizer and more.
Kelce also cohosts a podcast with brother Jason Kelce titled “New Heights,” which earns the athletes an estimated $1 to 2 million in yearly revenue. According to Spotify, inquiries for “Travis Kelce” increased by more than 1,300 percent on the streaming service after Swift’s attendance at the Chiefs game.
Dow Jones’ “conservative” estimate for how much Swift — who has partnerships with Capital One, Coca-Cola, Target and Apple — will make in endorsements in 2023 is $25 million.
Merch
After Swift went to the Chiefs game, Kelce’s No. 87 jersey saw a 400 percent spike in sales via the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com. According to reports, NFL players make 67 percent of the profits from their jersey sales. Kelce also owns a clothing brand called Tru Kolors Brand. Swift, for her part, sells out of merchandise regularly at her concerts and online, with cities opening up the stadium days before her show to give fans a chance to secure T-shirts, sweatshirts, limited-edition CDs (yes, Swift has fans buying CDs), vinyls and more.
