How Taylor Swift's cultural impact is helping to shake up the women's sport landscape
CBC
As I rode the elevator up to the eighth floor of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the digital sign was informing people of the road closures around the building. The slide read, "The Swifties are Coming!"
For the next two weeks, megastar Taylor Swift and her legion of fans — known as Swifties — will be blocking traffic as she entertains hundreds of thousands of people at six sold out shows in Toronto for her Eras Tour.
In addition to the skyrocketing prices of hotel rooms, inflated Uber rates and hysteria around her presence, Swift hugely affects the sports ecosystem around her. Whether or not skeptics want to admit it, her connection to sport creates a cultural impact that can not be denied.
The NFL recorded ridiculously high social media engagement last year because of Swift's appearances at her boyfriend's games. In addition to a 400 per cent increase of Travis Kelce jersey sales, other leagues are leaning into any type of connection and link to the megastar.
The Toronto Sceptres have an uncommonly close logo to one of Swift's logos in an old video and it may be wise to capitalize on that similarity.Sceptres player Renata Fast even commented with giggling emojis about that happy coincidence.
Have we ever seen the likes of this kind of influence in sport before? And can it be used to help amplify women's sports and broaden sports communities?
Dr. Ann Pegoraro is a professor of sports management and the chair of Lang Studies at the University of Guelph. She tells me that the intensity of the fans is what makes the difference.
"Taylor Swift is a different phenomenon than previous stars, she does not follow traditional business paths — she forges her own and, therefore, she disrupts most markets she enters," Pegraro told me via email.
"While other celebrities have attached themselves to sport (e.g., Hollywood stars and Lakers court side) most do not come with rabid fan bases like the Swifties."
I have wondered whether Swift can influence women's sport, but as Pegararo pointed out, the question might be: is sport culture changing or is the Taylor Swift effect forcing that change?
The Swifties are a market accelerator and while Taylor is introducing her fans to sport, her fans are introducing sport to the purchasing power of women.
Swift has worn a Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens jersey years ago, so there is precedent for wearing one now. PWHL's Toronto team has already welcomed Swift and her opening act Gracie Abrams to the city with offerings of a custom Sceptres jersey.
Would Swift wearing a PWHL jersey convert thousands of people to women's hockey?
Not necessarily, but what it does do is introduce them to teams and leagues and that is not something to be taken lightly.
