It was a standing-room-only crowd gathered within the aisles of a New Jersey Transit practice from New York’s Penn Station to New Jersey at 5 p.m. on Sunday night.
A number of teams of buddies had been overheard asking the identical query: Was this due to Taylor Swift?
By now most People are well-versed with the Ms. Swift impact. Wherever she goes, whether or not it’s to carry out and even simply eat dinner, followers observe. As soon as phrase leaked that she may make an look at MetLife Stadium for a soccer recreation between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and the New York Jets to cheer on her rumored new boyfriend, Kansas Metropolis’s All-Professional tight finish Travis Kelce, it was assumed the crowds would present up en masse. The truth that tickets to the sport and Mr. Kelce’s jersey — he sports activities No. 87 for the Chiefs — confirmed notable will increase in gross sales (and price), in keeping with a number of media retailers, solely confirmed these suspicions.
Ms. Swift did certainly present up on the recreation and watched it from a non-public suite with buddies Sophie Turner, Blake Full of life, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman. Folks within the stadium who had been shut sufficient to see the celebrities spent a lot of the sport gawking and taking pictures. (Ms. Swift waved to followers a number of instances.)
On the practice, two Jets followers couldn’t imagine their success. “Now we have 4 season tickets, and we bought two for $90,” mentioned Michael Callaghan, 30, who lives in Kips Bay. “They had been going for $50 earlier than Taylor was going.”
“We must always get Swift bracelets that say Jets on them,” quipped his good friend, Ryan Dwyer, 36, who lives on the Higher West Aspect.
At Secaucus Junction, the place vacationers from Penn Station should switch to get a practice to the Meadowlands, strangers had been joking with each other about whether or not they had been followers of soccer or Ms. Swift.
When Elaine Gitles, 26, who works for a software program firm and lives within the East Village, was displaying off her purple T-shirt that mentioned “Travis Kelce is Sizzling,” an older man in a inexperienced Jets jersey yelled, “It’s an amazing Taylor Swift jersey.”
Ms. Gitles clarified that she’s a Chiefs fan, and she or he purchased the shirt when her workforce received the Tremendous Bowl final season. However she’s not mad about being labeled a Swiftie (as Ms. Swift’s followers are nicknamed), since she is a kind of as properly.
“I went to Eras 3 times,” Ms. Gitles mentioned of Swift’s wildly profitable Eras Tour. “It’s the very best coincidence of all time that my favourite musical artist is becoming a member of the very best soccer workforce of all time.” (She additionally shared the lyrics she got here up with that Ms. Swift might sing if her relationship to Mr. Kelce falls via: “He performed the sphere like he performed me. A travesty.”)
Different individuals who stopped to talk in Secaucus had been Hana Kim, 24, and Courtney Takahashi, 25, each particular training academics in Westchester. The duo couldn’t afford tickets for Ms. Swift’s live performance on the MetLife Stadium in Might, in order that they sat within the car parking zone outdoors the stadium and listened to the entire thing from their automobiles as a substitute. “We Taylorgated,” mentioned Ms. Takahashi.
“We purchased soccer tickets as quickly because the information got here out,” mentioned Ms. Takahashi. “I don’t even care if we see her. Simply being in her presence, respiration the identical air, feeling her vibe, that’s ok for me.”
Outdoors the stadium, as some followers had been tailgating with grills and coolers of beer, others had been brainstorming one of the simplest ways to get a peek at Ms. Swift.
“I’ve been taking a look at social media, ready to see if we might see which field she was in and if we might see her,” mentioned Shae Mermis, 33, who lives in Crown Heights and was on the recreation together with her girlfriend and oldsters.
Stella Price, 44, and her daughter, Zoe Price, determined they might hang around on the V.I.P. degree. “We’re season ticket holders within the degree beneath, so we’re allowed to go up a ground to the place the bins are,” she mentioned.
Followers had various concepts for applicable recreation day outfits.
As quickly as she noticed Ms. Swift in Mr. Kelce’s field final week on the Chiefs recreation in Kansas Metropolis, Caye Schnackel, 26, a clothier who lives in Brooklyn, determined she and her boyfriend must costume because the movie star couple for Halloween. “I checked out him and mentioned, ‘I’m going to be Taylor, and you’re going to be Kelce,’ and that was that,” she mentioned.
She discovered the proper outfit at Nova Lee Boutique — a vibrant purple jersey with 87 written on it, made completely of sequins — and had it overnighted so she might get it in time to put on to Sunday’s recreation along with Halloween.
“I’m simply so obsessive about Travis now,” she mentioned. “I’m so jealous of Taylor. I’m going to attempt to win him over at the moment.” (Her boyfriend, Krzysztof Miezgiel, who was subsequent to her, simply laughed.)
Sean Patrick, 47, went to a T-shirt printing firm at a neighborhood mall the morning of the sport to attempt to get the saying, “The place’s Taylor?” printed, however he was advised it wouldn’t be prepared in time. His good friend, Tom Wagner, 59, from Manahawkin, N.Y., went to Walmart and acquired the most important pink sweatshirt he might discover but it surely nonetheless didn’t match. So that they determined to take pink masking tape, write phrases about Taylor Swift on it with a marker, and fix them to soccer jerseys.
The pair spent 4 hours tailgating within the car parking zone, making pulled pork and hen on 4 completely different grills and watching different soccer video games on a tv they arrange with a transportable satellite tv for pc dish. “We had about 50 individuals come as much as us and ask to take pictures,” mentioned Mr. Wagner. “I’ve by no means had extra enjoyable at a Jets recreation in my life.”
“The ambiance is loopy,” he added. “I’ve by no means seen a workforce deliver a crowd like this.”
