Taylor Swift has no intention of performing the Super Bowl halftime show until Travis Kelce retires from football, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Fans are urging for Swift, who has been in a relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Kelce for nearly two years, to headline the halftime show after Kendrick Lamar’s controversial performance in New Orleans earlier in the month.
Kendrick received criticism for what some labeled as ‘the worst Super Bowl halftime show ever’ during the Chiefs’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. There are reports indicating that the NFL now regrets having chosen him to perform.
Taylor was present at the stadium that night, watching the rapper’s polarizing performance as she cheered on Travis and the Chiefs at Caesars Superdome. As a result, fans are eagerly anticipating her appearance on the same prestigious stage.
Yet according to a source close to the pop megastar, Swift wants to wait until her boyfriend is no longer an active NFL player to perform the halftime show.
‘She doesn’t want to do it now until Travis is fully retired as she would like to be at the game supporting him rather than performing at it,’ the insider told DailyMail.com.
Taylor Swift does not want to perform the Super Bowl halftime show until Travis Kelce retires
Kendrick Lamar’s performance in New Orleans earlier this month was slammed by some fans
Despite calls for her to do it, Taylor won’t headline while boyfriend Travis is still an NFL player
‘When she eventually performs at it, she wants all her loved ones to be able to experience it. And as long as Travis is in the league, the Chiefs have a chance to be in the game, so she is going to wait to do it till he is officially done.’
Before she met Kelce, the source claims Swift never performed the halftime show as it was sponsored by Pepsi up until 2022, which made it a no-go because of her long-standing partnership with Coke.
‘If Pepsi wasn’t the sponsor of the halftime show for so many years, then Taylor Swift would have potentially already been the performer,’ the source added. ‘But she has had a long-standing partnership with Coke and sponsorship with them, so that was one glaring reason she was never able to do it.’
As she grew in popularity Swift’s hectic schedule never allowed her to headline the Super Bowl show, but now she is simply waiting for Kelce’s NFL career to come to an end before agreeing to take it on.
The Chiefs star recently admitted he is weighing up retirement after their heavy 40-22 loss to the Eagles, stressing that the ‘wear and tear’ on both his body and mind after 13 seasons in the NFL could tempt him to walk away at the age of 35.
Kelce, who is said to be ‘leaning more’ towards playing on than retiring, will be expected to make a concrete decision over the coming months, long before Kansas City return for summer training camp.
Kendrick was accused by certain fans of putting on ‘the worst Super Bowl halftime show ever’
Swift witnessed his divisive performance live while at the game to cheer on Kelce’s Chiefs
The pop megastar is keen for her halftime show to be a huge event for her friends and family
Kelce is currently weighing up retirement after the Chiefs’ defeat to the Eagles in New Orleans
Last year Kendrick was announced as the headline Super Bowl halftime act in September, meaning there is plenty of time for Kelce to hang up his cleats and clear the path for Swift to perform at next year’s showpiece in Santa Clara, California.
While there have been no talks with the league as of yet, it is believed NFL and Jay Z’s Roc Nation – who help oversee the halftime show – will allow Taylor to headline as soon as she wishes.
‘Taylor is and always will be considered,’ the source continued. ‘And if she wants to do it, she will get the gig.
‘The NFL and Jay are throwing other names out there and they will have someone confirmed on their side of things this summer and then announce it in the start of next season or at the latest Thanksgiving.
‘Taylor is not in talks but is always a phone call away because the NFL knows they would be stupid if they didn’t at least entertain the fact to her that she should do it.
‘They will continue to have their feelers out there and if she wanted to do it, again she would absolutely get it.’
Swift is said to be ‘one of only few artists that would be able to get the spot without Jay-Z’s full blessing.’
The legendary rapper and producer is reportedly being pressured to bring in a female performer away from the hip-hop world, as the last few years have included acts from his wheelhouse.
Jay Z and his Roc Nation company oversee the Super Bowl halftime show along with the NFL
Swift is ‘one of only few artists that would be able to get the spot without Jay-Z’s full blessing’
His wife Beyonce, who headlined the halftime show in 2013 and at this season’s Christmas Day game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, is also not off the table as a potential option in the future.
‘There is also a world where Beyonce would do it again, it won’t be next year but there is definitely a world where she would do it again before Taylor had her chance to do it,’ the source concluded.
After Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, next year, the season-concluding showpiece will head to Inglewood, California in 2027 and Atlanta, Georgia in 2028.
Swift’s preference is to one day headline the halftime show in her beloved Nashville, where she began her journey to superstardom after moving there in her early teens.
However, performing away from the Tennessee city is by no means a ‘deal breaker’.
Should Kelce choose to play on for at least another season, Swift would have to set her sights on headlining in either Inglewood or Atlanta in two or three years’ time.
