Taylor Swift skips Travis Kelce’s Chiefs season opener in São Paulo as NFL expands international spotlight

Taylor Swift did not travel to São Paulo to attend her fiancé Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday(September 5), according to PageSix website. The game was played at Corinthians’ Neo Química/Corinthians Arena as part of the NFL’s international schedule.

The matchup, the Chiefs’ Week 1 opener, was one of the NFL’s international showcase games and streamed broadly; the team and league promoted the contest as part of the NFL’s effort to grow the sport overseas.

None of the usual group of players’ partners made the roughly 13-hour trip from Kansas City for the one-game trip, and that Swift, who has been a frequent presence at Chiefs games in previous seasons, was not at the stadium. Those accounts attributed the absence to travel logistics and the short turnaround of an overseas week.

Kelce acknowledged the logistical challenges of the trip in interviews and on his podcast, likening the game-day travel to the long bus rides of college football and calling it “a unique experience.” He also spoke about his engagement publicly in the days before the game and expressed excitement about playing in front of international fans.

“That’ll be a unique experience driving to the game for two hours, the old college football way that we used to drive … we were dealt a hand and we gotta play it,” he said as stated on the PageSix website. The Super Bowl champ appeared optimistic, though, adding, “It’ll be rewarding if we go down there and find a way to win, knowing that this is such a unique schedule and unique experience. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to go down to Brazil.”

Swift has a history with Brazil, where she staged several Eras Tour dates in São Paulo in November 2023. That run drew intense public attention, including the tragic death of a concertgoer from heat exhaustion during the 2023 tour, and established a high level of local interest in any visit by Swift.

Swift and Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram with a joint post that read, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨,” accompanied by photos from the proposal. The announcement has made Swift’s game appearances a focus of both sports and entertainment coverage; media and fans have been closely watching for when she might attend his games again.

The backdrop to the game included an ongoing conversation about Kelce’s playing future. He had faced retirement speculation earlier this year but publicly committed to playing the 2025 season; analysts have labeled 2025 a pivotal season for Kelce’s on-field future and contract status.