Over the last several weeks, the alleged relationship between singer/songwriter Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has dominated headlines. During Thursday Night Football last week, Swift attended the game to support Kelce. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels knew that he needed to recognize her presence while also carefully allocating how often they would discuss her.
Michaels appeared on the ABC late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday where his interview with host Jimmy Kimmel immediately began with a question about how Amazon Prime Video handled the situation. His reply expressed an understanding for viewers on both sides of the situation; that is, those tuning in to watch the game, and others who just wanted to receive a glimpse of Swift’s suite.
“How much do you show her?,” Michaels said. “She’d been on twice, and football fans are going, ‘Enough,’ but we were praying she’d come into the booth and sing for us and do the whole thing. I had to acknowledge it, but what do you do? You can’t fool around; otherwise people will say that sounds hokey and the whole thing.”
Michaels and Prime Video color commentator Kirk Herbstreit stayed focused on the game at hand throughout the night, and the broadcast utilized shots of Swift occasionally. In the end, a football game is focused on the action taking place on the gridiron rather than specific people in attendance, and he knew that his focus would ultimately be on the Chiefs and their opponent, the visiting Denver Broncos.
When Michaels introduced Swift on the air, he shared that he did not know how to describe her. This prompted Kimmel to inform him that the show had the clip where he referred to her as Kelce’s “good buddy” and “girlfriend.”
“Is she his good buddy or girlfriend, Al?,” Kimmel asked. “It can’t be both.”
“You’re doing a game like that; I know the internet is going to blow up,” Michaels replied. “Page Six is waiting for whatever I say. You know what I really wanted to say? Fiancé. I didn’t because I figured Travis would beat me up at the end of the game.”
Al Michaels and Herbstreit did not overly hone in on Swift, instead discussing the football game and talking about how Kelce was playing despite entering as questionable with an ankle injury. The Chiefs ended up winning the game 19-8, marking the team’s fifth consecutive win and improving their record to 5-1 overall.
“It’s hard because people tune in to watch a football game,” Al Michaels said. “I’m not doing Access Hollywood.”
The matchup continued Prime Video’s successful start to the 2023 regular season with five consecutive weeks of double-digit viewership increases. Nielsen Media Research ratings stated that the matchup averaged 13.83 million viewers, up 57% over the comparable game year-over-year (YoY). When combining the Nielsen figure with internal metrics from Amazon, the average number rises to an average minute audience (AMA) of 14.90 million viewers.
