The Kansas City Chiefs appeared to get some special treatment from the NFL as a result of their enormous popularity, and NFL fans are not all that happy about it.
The Chiefs have been arguably the most popular team in the NFL for several seasons now, thanks in large part to Patrick Mahomes emerging as the face of the league and leading the team on deep playoff runs every season since he's been the starter.
That popularity was only amplified in 2023 when Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce began dating pop sensation Taylor Swift, who is arguably the most famous woman on the planet. With Swift regularly in the stands at games, the Chiefs were brought to a whole new audience, bringing ratings through the roof, and it seems like the Chiefs are getting rewarded for that.
On Wednesday, the league officially rolled out its schedule for the 2025-26 NFL season, and the Chiefs certainly got some favorable television timeslots.
As Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk points out, the Chiefs have the most standalone games and primetime games of any team in the league this season. Kansas City will play eight total standalone games, seven of which are in primetime, meaning that nearly half of their games this season will be nationally televised.
Needless to say, fans from other teams around the league were not necessarily amused by this decision.
"Oh wow! Couldn't have seen that one coming!" one fan wrote sarcastically.
"All because of Taylor Swift," another fan wrote.
"The NFL watched the Chiefs fail to post 31 points in a single game all season and then get trounced in the Super Bowl and said 'put that in every primetime window, STAT,'" someone else said.
"Taylor Swift effect like it or not," another fan added.
"Lose on the grandest stage get rewarded nonetheless," someone else commented.
"WE (America) DONT WANT THIS," someone else declared.
Like it or not, NFL fans are going to see the Chiefs on television a lot this upcoming season.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 1:18 AM.