Taylor Swift effect? Cowboys-49ers 'Sunday Night Football' game delivers top NFL audience among women
The narrative that Taylor Swift is drawing more women and girls to the NFL might be a tad overblown. Despite Swift not being in attendance, the "Sunday Night Football" game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 drew the top NFL audience among women and girls 12-24, according to sportsmediawatch.com.
Roughly 685,000 women in that demographic tuned in to watch the 49ers defeat the Cowboys 42-10. That figure was actually higher compared to the number of viewers from that same demographic during "Sunday Night Football" in Week 4, when the Kansas City Chiefs took on the New York Jets. Swift attended that game.
While some women and girls in the 12-24 demographic may have been drawn to "Sunday Night Football" in Week 4 thanks to Swift, that wasn't the reason they stuck around for Week 5. The actual reason more women in that demographic watched "Sunday Night Football" in Week 5 was the Cowboys, per sportsmediawatch.com.
"The three most-watched games in the female 12-24 demo this season have all featured Dallas, with the Cowboys’ 35-point rout of the Patriots placing second with 654,000 (on the same day as Chiefs-Jets) and their 20-point rout of the Jets in Week 2 ranking third (647,000)."
The Chiefs-Jets game from Week 4 did see an increase in viewership among that same demographic, but only compared to the first three weeks of "Sunday Night Football." Swift likely boosted those numbers, but not on the same level as the Cowboys.
Attributing a rise in female viewership to Swift attending games was always reductive. Swift has a massive fan base and it's hasty to assume the majority of that fan base didn't care about football prior to Swift showing up at games. Did Swift potentially draw some new fans to the game? Sure. Is her impact overblown? Probably.
Turns out, women liked the NFL before Swift was involved. That shouldn't be treated as breaking news. It's always been true, and the fact that the Cowboys continue to produce excellent viewing numbers among young women and girls is proof of that.
