Swift, Kelce and PR tips to steal

What I had planned this week can wait, because …

Did you hear about the super-hyped podcast that recently dropped?

Talk about secrets revealed … Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman broke down how his team media trained during the Bill Belichick years in New England. Hearing Edelman describe it on his Games with Names, “Chill Zone” segment was like eavesdropping on a class, only much cooler. He gave super insight into one of the most dissected public relations eras in sports.

Edelman’s breakdown supports why even he thinks it’s smart to prepare athletes before they face the media. Check it out around the 1:37ish mark in his episode with NASCAR champ, Kyle Larson.

Oh—there was another recent pod that was even more hyped. Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights recently featured Travis’s girlfriend, Taylor. Turns out she’s pretty popular in her own right.

Taylor Swift — you may have heard of her — writes and sings songs and performs throughout the world. Her fans are fondly known as Swifties.

All kidding aside, you can’t underestimate the publicity value Swift has given Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL. The league should pay her a percentage of ad sales to thank her. (Yeah, that’ll happen 🤪.)

Swift’s appearance on New Heights likely took the already popular pod to, well, new heights (12 million-plus views on YouTube for just that episode as of this writing). That she’s taken the time to learn ball will likely embrace the most cynical NFL fans at this point. It’s a PR move that grew from, well, a love story.

Even before the Travis-Taylor romance became public, some in the sports business told me they were awed by Swift’s fitness to perform during the Eras Tour — three hours a pop with more than two dozen costume changes and no intermission. Now, with T Kelce in her life, she brings more sports fans to her camp and takes Swifties to his. 

For the record, I was one of those who first thought the Taylor-Travis connection was a publicity stunt. I was obviously wrong.

🏈🎶🏈🎵

So, at this point of SIDEbar, you’re saying, “Spill the ways I can create the same kind of publicity.” Well, unless you know Travis or Taylor and they’re cool with dropping into one of your events, you might want to hit up Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady. OK — maybe not them, either.

Instead, think strategically.

In a quasi-comparison, businesses should think about how partnerships can attract attention across different channels to reach fans where they typically consume media. Then … ➡️

Elevate, don’t fake — business partnerships work when both parties maintain their strengths while creating new value together.

Think timing and culture — pair your partnerships with cultural moments, seasonal trends or major events in your industries.

Build community, not just campaigns — focus on shared values and interests. The Kelce-Swift public-facing connection merged Chiefs, and more broadly, NFL fans, with Swifties and vice versa.

The key is finding collaborations that feel real, deliver genuine value and tap into existing cultural energy rather than trying to fabricate buzz.

Good luck finding your Swift + Kelce collaboration and growing a community with a whole new kind of spark. Or love connection.

© 2025 Gail Sideman, gpublicity.com, SIDEbar

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