Ever since she announced her engagement in late August to Kansas City Chiefs‘ future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, speculation has centered around global pop music megastar Taylor Swift and the possibility that she would give the halftime performance at Super Bowl 60 in February.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even dropped his own coy hint that the NFL was in negotiations for the coveted halftime show, a performance that is regularly broadcast to well over 100 million viewers each year.
âWe would always love to have Taylor play. She is a special, special talent, and obviously she would be welcome at any time,” Goodell said during an appearance on the NBC Today Show September 3.
Swift will not be performing at halftime of the February 8, 2026, game, however. Instead, the NFL chose Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio MartÃnez Ocasio, better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, to headline the Super Bowl 60 halftime.
Swift Says Worry About Kelce is Reason
Why not Swift? According to a report by entertainment industry insider Rob Shuter in late September, Swift and the NFL could not agree to terms regarding the performance rights to footage of her performance. And Swift also insisted on being paid for her appearance. The NFL traditionally does not pay a fee to Super Bowl halftime performers.
But in a 45-minute interview on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday â reportedly the longest in the 71-year history of The Tonight Show â Swift, while not exactly denying the earlier story, gave a completely different reason for shunning the Super Bowl halftime.
The reason â Kelce. Swift said that she is too worried about her fiancé’s safety on the football field to focus on giving a performance.
‘Locked In’ on Kelce’s Safety
âI am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field,â Swift told Fallon. “Like, that is violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season, I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field,” the 35-year-old multi-billionaire pop star said.
She then joked abut what it would be like if she did choose to perform.
“Can you imagine if, like, he’s out there every single week, like, putting his life on the line, doing this very dangerous, very high pressure, high intensity sport, and I’m like, ‘I wonder what my choreo should be like,’” Swift said.
Swift was quick to clarify that Kelce did not influence her decision.
âThis has nothing to do with Travis. He would love for me to do it,” Swift said. “But Iâm just too locked in.â
Comments Edited Out From Televised Interview
The NFL outsources its booking of Super Bowl halftime performances to Roc Nation, the promotional and management company founded by rap megastar Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Swift said that her “team” was in contact with Roc Nation on a frequent basis.
âJay-Z has always been very good to me â our teams are really close. They sometimes will call and say, âHow does she feel aboutâ¦?’ Swift said, appearing to imply that the Super Bowl was what Roc Nation would inquire about. “And thatâs not, like, an official offer or a conference-room conversation, more âHow does she feel about it in general?â”
Interestingly, Swift’s comments on her Super Bowl halftime decision did not air on the NBC broadcast of Fallon’s show, but instead were included in an expanded edition of the interview posted online.
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