Taylor Swift related Super Bowl bets include a boyfriend proposal

LOS ANGELES:

While Taylor Swift hasn’t revealed whether she’ll be crossing the Pacific Ocean to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce at the Feb. 11 Super Bowl in Las Vegas, that hasn’t stopped online sportsbooks from offering bets revolving around her presence at game.

Novelty betting around major sporting events is nothing new, but some sportsbooks decided to have some fun with the Swift-Kelce craze after the Kansas City Chiefs punched their ticket to the Super Bowl. One of the boldest bets that can be made is offered by FanDuel Canada, which allows people to bet on whether Kelce will propose to the pop superstar at the Super Bowl.

With just over a week to go until the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers, FanDuel Canada’s “Will Travis Kelce pop the question?” The market is divided into 70% yes and 30% no.

“At FanDuel Canada, we’re always looking for ways to keep our customers engaged during important moments like the Super Bowl,” FanDuel Canada’s Marketing Team said in an email to Reuters. “Our merchandising team is working hard to offer purchases on all halftime shows, the coin toss, the national anthem and even Taylor Swift-specific purchases.”

Swift has attended several Chiefs games this season, but her Super Bowl appearance is in question Anti-hero The singer has a concert on February 10 in Tokyo, followed by a series of shows in Australia starting on February 16 in Melbourne.

Still, BetUS has no shortage of silly Swift-related bets — which are sports betting bets not tied to the outcome of a game — including whether the Grammy-winning artist and Kelce will announce their first pregnancy in the Super Bowl. BetUS also has odds on how many times Swift will appear on camera during the Super Bowl, whether she and Kelce will be shown kissing after the game and whether the game’s MVP will mention her in his speech.

While the Halftime Show, which this year will feature Grammy-winning artist Usher, has traditionally been the focus of non-game betting, BetUS believes interest in Swift could potentially change that.

“Betting volume on Taylor Swift sets could – at least for this year – give the Halftime Show a literal performance in terms of betting volume,” Tim Williams, director of public relations for BetUS, told Reuters. “The Sportsbook, including us here at BetUS.com, really owe it to Taylor Swift this year for bringing the industry millions of dollars in additional revenue.”

Dissolving the confrontations

In other singer news, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed conspiracy theories surrounding Swift as “nonsense.” Pop icon Swift’s budding romance with the Kansas City Chiefs star has been cited by right-wing critics as evidence of a conspiracy to rig the Super Bowl and help re-elect US President Joe Biden.

Outlandish theories have labeled Kelce and Swift’s relationship as a deep-state psychological operation designed to swing this year’s presidential election in favor of Biden, with Fox News asking in a recent debate, “Is Taylor Swift an asset to the Pentagon?” Mike Crispi, a pro-Donald Trump radio personality, meanwhile, recently said: “Everybody knows Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are fake and the Super Bowl is rigged. You’re crazy at this point if you don’t believe it.”

But National Football League chief Goodell was having none of that as he addressed reporters deep inside Allegiant Stadium on Monday ahead of next Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown between Kansas City and the San Francisco 49ers. “Anybody in society in a public position is subject to criticism,” Goodell said of conspiracy theories. “But I think the idea that this is within a script, that this is premeditated, is just nonsense,” Goodell said. “It’s honestly not even worth talking about.” For one thing, Goodell quipped, “I’m not that good of a screenwriter.”

Goodell, however, was coy about the impact Swift’s relationship with Kelce has had on America’s favorite sport. Since Swift began watching Kelce’s games for Kansas City earlier this season, television audience numbers have increased, with ratings showing a boost among female viewers.

The Chiefs’ playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens was the most-watched AFC championship game in history. “She’s a remarkable performer,” Goodell said of Swift. “She is the best of the best. “The Taylor Swift effect is all positive. Travis and Taylor are great young men. They look very happy. He knows great fun and I think that’s why he loves NFL football. It’s great to have her around.

“Obviously, it creates buzz. So another group of young fans, particularly young women, is interested in saying, ‘Why should we watch this game?’ Why does (Taylor) care about this game?” On Sunday, Swift made history at the Grammys by winning her fourth album of the year award, the most of any artist.

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