The big day is here and we will be bringing you updates on all the Swiftie and Swelce magic the Super Bowl has to offer.
The big day is finally here: This Swiftie has made it to the Super Bowl.
I’ve spent the week in Las Vegas tracking all things Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. I asked him a non-football question at a press conference filled with sports journalists, went to the NFL’s version of the Oscars and even went to a strip club offering the couple a $1-million package to stop by on Sunday.
But today is different. Today we may actually gain proximity to Swift herself. I have dozens of friendship bracelets, a comfortable pair of sneakers and my eagle eye. Follow along as I bring you all the Swelce news I can find.
9:30 a.m: The earliest media buses depart Mandalay Bay at 10:30 a.m.; my colleagues and I decide to arrive as early as possible just in case. As luck would have it, the driver decides to leave an hour early, getting us on the road to Allegiant Stadium with plenty of time to spare.
The drive to the stadium isn’t long — five minutes, tops. We could walk, but there are so many security barricades that the best course of action is to go the official route. It’s so early that there’s still not a lot of action on the streets outside the stadium — no one has set up makeshift T-shirt stands or food carts yet.
9:35 a.m: Aaaaand we’re here. The only other people in the line to have their bags checked are stadium workers, decked out in official jackets.
Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020 and it’s still got that shiny and bright sheen to it. The second-most expensive stadium in the world, ($1.9 billion), it crouches around its 65,000 seats, reflecting the growing swarm around it. I’ve heard some compare it to the Death Star, but I’m into it. I’ve never been to a non-college football game before (I know. Life is unfair.) Still, the tunnels look familiar to me — not only because I’ve been to concerts in other stadiums but because, obviously, these are exactly the kind of halls we’ve seen Swift walking down this season on her way to her seats.
10 a.m.: My credential gives me access to the service level, which is where a lot of the action seems to take place. There are boxes of doughnuts and huge bags of popcorn ready to be rolled to the concession stands. Big red bags with Kansas City Chiefs logos are stacked outside of the locker room.
