Why NFL Took Taylor Swift Into Consideration When Making 2024 Schedule

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CBS Sports/Garrett Podell

Taylor Swift's global dominance is such that even the NFL, which will happily overpower other sports on days previously sacred to them -- the NBA on Christmas Day and college football on Black Friday -- has to yield when it comes to her return to the United States to wrap up her "Eras Tour."

NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said the league needed to factor in her U.S. tour dates when making the 2024 season schedule, per Fox Sports. There's no way a star of her stature is rescheduling her tour for anything less than a natural disaster. 

Swift is set to have concerts at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins, three days in a row from Friday Oct. 18 through Sunday Oct. 20. She will then travel to New Orleans for three consecutive days of shows at the Caesars Superdome, the New Orleans Saints' home field, from Friday Oct. 25 through Sunday Oct. 27. The final leg of her U.S. return wraps up at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts, from Friday Nov. 1 through Sunday Nov. 3. 

The NFL made sure to send Miami north to Indianapolis to play the Colts in Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 20), New Orleans out west to Los Angeles to play the Chargers in Week 8 (Sunday, Oct. 27) and Indianapolis northwest to Minnesota to face the Vikings in Week 9 (Sunday, Nov. 3). 

Swift happens to be in Toronto performing at the Rogers Centre, home of the MLB'sToronto Blue Jays, from Nov. 14 through 16 and Nov. 21 through 23. Coincidentally, the NFL scheduled the two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to play in Buffalo against the Bills in Week 11 on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS when she doesn't have a concert. That would make it very easy for Swift to make the just over two-hour drive that separates the Rogers Centre and Highmark Stadium, the home of the Bills, should she want to see her boyfriend and Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce play in person. She did attend Kansas City's AFC divisional round playoff game in Buffalo last season. 

North denies that the NFL scheduled the Chiefs vs. Bills showdown in Buffalo for Week 11 to accommodate Swift and her tour, calling the close proximity "pure coincidence" via the Boston Globe. 

This story was originally published by CBS Sports on May 17, 2024.

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