the NFL "drafting" Taylor Swift is the best business move they've made in years
plus: the investigation into sedona prince, what Dems could learn from an NFL punter, & Canadians boo-ing the U.S. Anthem
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Below: weekly housekeeping, a quick hit on Taylor Swift and the NFL, and your links for the week.
Weekend housekeeping:
On Tuesday, February 25th at 6:30 PM ET, I’ll be on a panel for The Gender and Sexualities Studies Institute at The New School called Bathrooms, Sports Teams, and Moral Panics: Trans Rights Now! I’ll be alongside Susan Stryker (!!!), Allyn Walker, Joel Sanders, and Claire Bond Potter. You can register here.
On March 4th, Togethxr’s book Play It Forward: How Women Are Changing Sports to Change the World will be published. It has a Foreword by Alex Morgan and an Afterword by Sue Bird. I have three essays in the book and Booklist gave it a starred review, calling it “an essential contribution to sports collections.” You can pre-order it here.
Our next OOYL Book Club meeting is Sunday, March 2nd at 1 PM ET/11 AM PT. We’ll be joined by author Josie Riesman to discuss her book Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America. Access to the event is only for paid subscribers and registration is required; link to register is at the bottom of this page.
For people who are on the fence about upgrading for access to the book club, or who like to plan ahead, our March selection will be Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart. In April, we will be reading Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie Barnes. Both authors will join us for our respective book club discussions about their books!
Quick Hit: Taylor Swift helped the NFL do its dirty work
Last year, I wrote about the fact that the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift relationship (Tayvis) was a boon for the NFL and the smartest PR move for a league that was struggling with major backlash.
In light of the revelation that Swift has reportedly made the NFL nearly $1 billion since the Tayvis relationship went public, I’d like to revisit that take—because this statistic just underscores how correct it was (you can also listen to me go in-depth on the topic in this episode of The End of Sport podcast from last year’s Super Bowl).
The NFL has won and Taylor Swift has been willing to do its dirty work (knowingly or unknowingly). Because while everyone was out here making fun of MAGA conspiracy theories about Swift being a Biden psyop or writing trend pieces about how Swift has brought back vintage sports gear or defending her from accusations that she’s “ruined” football for men, there are other things we WEREN’T talking about—like the massive Washington Post investigation into the NFL’s CTE lawsuits that dropped before last year’s Super Bowl or the continued domestic violence or systemic racism of the league.
All of the hype, press, and focus on Taylor Swift's attendance at Chiefs games and her relationship with Kelce show what a brilliant marketing decision it was for the NFL to collaborate with Swift in the way they have—choosing to highlight her presence at games and her new role as a WAG resulted in pulling focus from the league's very real multiple and ongoing PR crises (and who else is a PR mastermind? That’s right, Taylor Swift).
For her part, Swift has rekindled her image as a girl next door and America's Sweetheart by dating a man who plays the game that is essentially America's pastime. It's a win for both parties (the NFL and Swift), billionaires helping billionaires rehabilitate their images so they can continue lining their respective pockets. The NFL "drafting" Taylor Swift is (still) the best business move they've made in years.
As an aside, I learned something new about NFL halftime shows from this
piece, specifically in regards to “the Super Bowl halftime show as an extension of Black culture”:“Super Bowl halftime shows were not the popular-culture spectacles they are today,” explains a small sports startup called the National Football League. “They usually had themes, such as ‘Winter Magic,’ a 1992 Winter Olympics show, or ‘Be Bop Bamboozled’ and they were not widely popular.” But in 1993, Keenan Ivory Wayans — the executive producer of Fox’s hit show “In Living Color” — “plotted an assault on the National Football League” by airing an episode during halftime of the Super Bowl. Ever since that renegade act drew more than 20 million viewers during the Super Bowl, most of the halftime shows have been headlined by Black artists, including the three most-watched performances of all time.
Links
The leading candidate for the International Olympic Committee’s Presidential race (Lord Sebastian Coe) agrees with a political decision (banning trans women from women’s sports) taken by a country (the U.S.) despite lower courts repeatedly affirming it violates our constitution. It’s worth noting that the IOC’s own framework (which is backed up by a lot of evidence) opposes this position and advocates for inclusion.
Speaking of evidence, ANOTHER new study has been released on trans women’s participation in women’s sports, with results supporting inclusion. It’s from the British Journal of Sports Medicine and it found
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