NFL Clearly Using Taylor Swift For Clout, Angling For Super Bowl Show

The NFL doesn't seem to be content on bringing in another measly $16 billion this year.

They must want more.

It's hard to argue with that opinion, at least, as the league has milked Taylor Swift's relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for all it's worth. The Grammy Award winner has not only been prominently featured on the league's social media pages but has actively been calling in favors to feature her on television broadcasts.

The NFL asked its networks -- NBC, ESPN, Fox and CBS -- to show promos for Swift's upcoming movie, "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," for free, according to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post.

The crazy part? ESPN and NBC acquiesced! Those ad spots, which usually go for around $1 million, were paid for, according to Marchand, but it's unclear who paid for them.

If you're asking yourself why the NFL has this weird fascination with Swift, it likely falls back on the fact that she's a money maker. The television ratings have been up since Swift started showing up to Kelce's games, and the end goal is likely to get Swift to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, which she has never done.

It remains to be seen whether Amazon prominently features Swift over the next couple of weeks, which could be telling in terms of how prominent the NFL's favors are getting. Amazon has a relationship with Swift, so it could run ads for her movie anyway but has a golden opportunity to feature her on the Oct. 12 "Thursday Night Football" game between the Chiefs and Denver Broncos.

Her movie, of course, premieres Oct. 13.

There's no denying the NFL is riding this wave, but the longer it goes on the clearer its intentions become.