The Super Bowl and the Taylor Swift ‘Girlfriend Effect’

But Swift is helping to change that, Ong said.

“She became the conduit for non-N.F.L. fans to understand Travis Kelce’s personal story,” Ong said, “giving them an emotional stake in the outcome of his games.”

Though N.F.L. games were already the most popular programming on TV by far, Swift’s addition to some of the telecasts has had a measurable impact.