Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story is currently in production.
Can’t get enough of the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance? Well, Hallmark is cooking up just the film for you.
The prolific producer of holiday movies is teaming up with the Kansas City Chiefs (yeah, you read that right) for Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. Granted, the film is not based on the power couple’s love story. According to a joint news release, the movie centers on a “Fan of the Year” contest. The love interest, played by Hallmark veteran Tyler Hynes, is tasked with judging Alana, a Chiefs superfan portrayed by Hunter King. Ed Begley Jr. also stars as Alana’s Chiefs-obsessed grandfather.
Chiefs President Mark Donovan said: “As a club, we pride ourselves on exploring new ways to grow our brand, as well as connect with new audiences. This partnership unites two passionate fanbases and gives us an opportunity to show Chiefs Kingdom’s energy and tradition on one of the most-watched channels during the holiday season.”
To put a finer point on it, the Super Bowl champions have enjoyed a lot of female attention lately, thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the Chiefs’ CEO Clark Hunt said on CNBC that the team’s “female audience has grown leaps and bounds” thanks to the superstar’s presence throughout last season. It’s no surprise; everything she touches seems to benefit from a ratings bump — including Super Bowl LVIII, which was the most-watched TV event of all time. Fans are also paying close attention to her choice of Chiefs apparel. Last year, when Swift wore a Kansas City windbreaker, “it sold out, we restocked it, it sold out again,” sports broadcaster Erin Andrews, whose brand WEAR gifted Swift the jacket, told TODAY.
This partnership between the two Kansas City-based organizations feels like another play for the franchise to grow its female audience even more while at the same time further capitalizing on the excitement swirling around Swift’s relationship with the tight end. Does it all feel a bit like a marketing ploy gone too far? A late capitalist fever dream? Sort of. But will I be streaming it this winter? Almost certainly.
