Taylor Swift returned to the Super Bowl on Sunday to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs as they faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, her reception this time was rather different from last year.
The pop superstar, who was met with enthusiastic cheers when she attended the big game in Las Vegas previously, was instead booed by the predominantly pro-Eagles crowd when shown on the large screen inside the Superdome.
Seated next to rapper Ice Spice, Swift appeared confused, giving a side-eye and wrinkling her nose at the unexpected reaction. Upon realizing the booing was directed at her, she seemingly brushed it off while the cameras shifted focus to other attendees.
In a striking contrast, spectators noted that when former U.S. President Donald Trump was shown on the big screen saluting during the national anthem, he received loud cheers from the packed stadium.
Trump, a longstanding critic of the National Football League, made history as the first former president to attend a Super Bowl. He took his seat among a sold-out crowd of approximately 74,000 fans at the Caesars Superdome for the biggest annual event in the American sporting calendar.
His attendance came amid a complex history with the NFL, dating back to the 1980s when he attempted to join the league as an owner but was ultimately rejected. During his presidency in 2017, Trump further stirred controversy by criticizing NFL players who knelt during the national anthem in protest against racial injustice.
The Super Bowl is not just a sporting event but a cultural phenomenon, with this year’s halftime show featuring hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, who dominated last Sunday’s Grammy Awards by winning all five categories for which he was nominated.
Meanwhile, bookmakers and casinos are taking bets on whether Chiefs star Kelce will propose to Swift after the game. With sports betting now legal in 38 states, American sportsbooks are projected to handle an estimated $1.39 billion in Super Bowl wagers, according to an annual report from the American Gaming Association.
