It’s safe to say Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce could afford to rent out (several) restaurants every day for the rest of their relationship.
Swift and Kelce broke the internet in September 2023 when they confirmed their romance by the Grammy winner watching Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri.
Since then, fans (and haters) have debated who is more famous — one of the biggest names in music and one of the most successful tight ends in NFL history — and who has more money in the bank.
“I’m really gonna start fighting sports people saying taylor is with travis for pr literally what pr does she need?? she’s the biggest artist in the world. she does not need him name or his money. she ate ranch and ketchup and now heinz is mixing ranch and ketchup like please stfu,” a fan declared, referring to Heinz’s limited edition “Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” sauce.
While the biggest (and most obvious) takeaway is both Kelce and Swift are very successful — and very rich — Us is taking a closer look at the numbers:
Football vs. Music
Kelce initially signed a four-year $3,126,304 contract with Chiefs, which included a $703,304 signing bonus, in 2013. Four years later, Kelce’s contract was extended, and he inked an impressive five-year $46,842,000 contract with the team and a $10,000,000 signing bonus.
For the 2023 season, Kelce’s salary was $11,250,000. He then signed a two-year extension, worth $34.25 million, in April 2024, which cemented his spot in Kansas City through the end of the 2027 season. He earned $17 million guaranteed in 2024, which made him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.
Swift, for her part, kicked off The Eras Tour in March 2023. In April 2024, Forbes noted that Swift made “$190 million post-tax earnings” from her concerts.
In October 2023, Swift reached billionaire status, according to a report from Bloomberg News Analysis. Bloomberg noted at the time that Swift’s music catalog is worth an estimated $400 million. The outlet reported that she made an estimated $370 million in concert sales and merchandise, $120 million in streaming earnings from Spotify and YouTube and $80 million in royalties from her music sales at the time.
Social Media and Endorsement Deals
Kelce only boasts 6.4 million Instagram followers to Swift’s more than 280 million fans. While the numbers aren’t exactly comparable, Kelce may directly profit off of his profile via Instagram ads more often. The football star reportedly makes $5 million annually on endorsements with several brands, including Nike, T-Mobile, Old Spice, McDonald’s, Walgreens, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bud Light, Pfizer and more.
Kelce also cohosts a podcast with brother Jason Kelce titled “New Heights,” which earns the athletes an estimated $1 to 2 million in yearly revenue. According to Spotify, inquiries for “Travis Kelce” increased by more than 1,300 percent on the streaming service after Swift’s initial attendance at the Chiefs game.
Dow Jones’ “conservative” estimate for how much Swift — who has partnerships with Capital One, Coca-Cola, Target and Apple — will make in endorsements in 2023 is $25 million.
Merch
After Swift went to the Chiefs game, Kelce’s No. 87 jersey saw a 400 percent spike in sales via the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com. According to reports, NFL players make 67 percent of the profits from their jersey sales. Kelce also owns a clothing brand called Tru Kolors Brand.
Swift, for her part, sells out of merchandise regularly at her concerts and online, with cities opening up the stadium days before her show to give fans a chance to secure T-shirts, sweatshirts, limited-edition CDs (yes, Swift has fans buying CDs), vinyls and more. In October 2023, Bloomberg reported that Swift made $370 million in concert sales and merchandise.
