Taylor Swift wouldn't let her music be used in the broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs' game last weekend.
Taylor Swift cheers on the Kansas City Chiefs
The 33-year-old singer was in the crowd to watch rumoured new boyfriend Travis Kelce in action against the Chicago Bears on 24 September and network Fox wanted to capitalise on the "avalanche of rumours" by using her hits to soundtrack their airing of the game, but were quickly shut down.
In a FoxSports.com blog, NFL on Fox‘s lead producer Richie Zyon wrote: "Earlier in the week, amid the avalanche of rumours, our bulldog associate producer Rich Gross had sought permission to use some of Swift's music. Not a chance.
"Per the FOX music department, Swift’s record label and publishing company denied our request 'in conjunction with speculations on or about her private/personal/dating life.' "
But once they had confirmation that Taylor was in attendance for the game, the broadcasting teem knew they needed to strike a balance in letting fans see her on screen but also giving her the space to enjoy the game without shooting "gratuitous" footage.
Richie continued: "We knew right away this broadcast would be notable less for the game coverage and more for whatever images we captured of the pop superstar in attendance. Once Erin found out the location of Kelce’s suite — at the 15-yard line on the Chiefs side of the field — Russo relayed the information to his entire 17-person camera crew...
"The first time we peeked in on Kelce's suite was during player introductions, minutes before the start of the broadcast. Swift was there, seated next to Kelce’s mother Donna, and they both erupted in cheers as the tight end ran out of the tunnel. We played that back on tape early in the telecast.
"After that, coverage became a matter of balance. Russo showed restraint not taking gratuitous live shots, saving the opportunities for when she reacted to action in the game.
"Her joyful expression after Kelce scored a touchdown was the image of the day, captured beautifully by our low end-zone cameraman Andy Mitchell."
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