Photographer Tammy Ljungblad has worked at The Kansas City Star for 36 years. She has never seen anything like the impact of megastar Taylor Swift on NFL games at Arrowhead Stadium and the broader Kansas City community.
Sports and celebrities have always been close. Now they’re married. Publishers/editors expect photographers to document sports action and A-list celebrities. In some instances, that order of priority can be flipped: celebrities and also sports.
A New York-based photographer with nearly 25 years of experience says mega celebrities can overshadow sports action. Some editors, he says, have been more interested in photos of Swift’s reaction to sports than the games.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
On December 10, 2023 — Ljungblad remembers the exact date — she photographed Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce leaving Arrowhead, holding hands after a 20-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“It was one of the first photos of them together,” recalls Ljungblad.
Hometown newspaper (The Kansas City Star) is allotted two photographer credentials for Chiefs’ home games. Covering the sports action and Swift has been a team effort, says Ljungblad, noting that colleague Emily Curiel has been passionate about documenting Swift.
Swift is less visible at Arrowhead Stadium this season; The Kansas City Star continues a strong focus on Swift and Kelce.
“Celebrate Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce’s engagement with special Star downloads,” says The Kansas City Star website, encouraging fans to access its special front page.
Fervor generated by Swift runs deep. In 2023, Ljungblad photographed a large welcome message to Swift created in a wheat field in Orrick, Missouri. More recently, Dolce Bakery created customized engagement pastries.
Another High-Profile Romance
On November 2, the music playlist at Gillette Stadium was a clue. Sports photographer Maddie Meyer of Getty Images — hearing plenty of Cardi B songs — had a sense that the celebrity rapper was at the New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons game.
After Cardi B’s boyfriend Stefon Diggs scored a touchdown for the Patriots, Meyer aimed her camera at the owner’s box to photograph Cardi B celebrating. Meyer’s photos of jubilant Cardi B have been widely published by celebrity and music media for weeks.
“I’m glad she (Cardi B) stood to celebrate,” recalls Meyer, “so I could get a view of her face.”
And, yes, Meyer photographed the November 2 football game, a 24-23 Patriots’ victory.
New York, LA, and Beyond
Celebrity-heavy New York and Los Angeles send legions of stars to pro sports events (baseball, basketball, tennis, football, and more). Spike Lee is a fixture at Knicks’ games, and Jack Nicholson has been an uber fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The celebrities-at-sports phenomenon reaches beyond entertainment capitals. Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, and Ben Stiller traveled to the American heartland when the Knicks played the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals.
Athletes are much-photographed celebrities who support other athletes. In Indianapolis, that means “Tyrese Halliburton (Pacers) at the Fever game to Caitlin Clark (Fever) at the Indianapolis Colts game,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Mykal McEldowney of The Indianapolis Star.
Media Loves Celebrity Photo Galleries
Pro sports events commonly inspire celebrity photo galleries. During the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Gannett-owned Indianapolis Star posted a gallery of celebrities at Game 5 in New York (Knicks vs Pacers), starting with an image of Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, and Ben Stiller by Al Bello of Getty Images.
During Wimbledon Championships in England, Reuters posted a celebrity photo gallery on July 6 that included British royals, sports figure David Beckham, and film stars Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.
Don’t Overthink It
Scholars have written volumes to discern the meaning of fandom and celebrity appeal. In Indianapolis, photographer McEldowney applies plain-spoken Midwestern sensibility to explain the fascination with star power.
“I can’t tell you if celebrities attending sporting events make them (the events) better or worse,” he says. “But I can tell you they’re just people like you and me who enjoy everything sports have to offer.”
The Big Picture: Mutual Benefit
The overlap between sports and entertainment can generate mutual benefits for sports, celebrities, and the media.
“Photographing celebrities at sporting events isn’t necessarily a distraction rather than an opportunity to show how deeply sports is rooted in our society and culture,” says Chief Photographer Patrick Smith of Getty Images, whose recent work includes coverage of the World Series.
“Behind us sit thousands of fans, and among them are celebrities (who) have long been part of sports culture. Their presence brings another layer of storytelling to our visual coverage.”
Photographer Frank Franklin II of The Associated Press concurs.
“Relationships between celebrities and athletes create a new dynamic and a renewed interest in both,” says Franklin, whose credits include photos of Taylor Swift at the 2024 Super Bowl and US Open.
To support his point, Franklin contemplates the 2026 Super Bowl.
“I don’t know who will be playing in the Super Bowl,” says Franklin, “but I do know Bad Bunny will be performing… and (current) interest in the halftime show supersedes the interest in the actual game. That says a lot.”
Epilogue
News of the day continues to spotlight connections between sports and entertainment.
Since the start of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2003, the show’s band was led by Kimmel’s friend Cleo Escobedo III. When the bandleader died on November 11 at age 59, a broad range of media posted a Getty Images photo by Maddie Meyer of longtime pals Kimmel and Escobedo.
The location of the much-published Kimmel/Escobedo photo? On the field at Dodger Stadium before game one of the Dodgers vs the Yankees 2024 World Series.
Not long after the November 2 Patriots-Falcons game at Gillette Stadium, where Meyer photographed hitmaker Cardi B, the rapper announced the birth of her fourth child. Her announcement inspired a new round of interest in Meyer’s recent photo of Cardi B in the owner’s box at Gillette Stadium, cheering NFL player Stefon Diggs.
In news off the field, Diggs filed a defamation suit against an influencer. Media covering that story used Meyer’s photos of Diggs in his football uniform.
About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).
