Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce engagement: Proposal details, Chiefs' response, fan reactions and more
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It's a love story, and baby ... she said yes.
Taylor Swift is entering her fiancée era. What to know:
- Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce transformed a garden into a love story by proposing to Taylor Swift. The news comes after over two years of the couple being romantically linked. The music icon and football star have made headlines worldwide since their relationship became public.
- Kelce purchased the massive diamond ring — which features four prongs and a button back, or a small bezel around the stone — at Artifex Fine Jewelry, an online jeweler that claims to craft jewelry with natural stones. The ring is an old mine brilliant cut — or an antique elongated cushion.
- Reactions from fans, NFL teams (including the Chiefs), brands and other celebrities immediately began flooding social media after Swift and Kelce shared the announcement. A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that Instagram had briefly crashed for some users, saying, “Turns out Instagram needed to process this news, just like everyone else.”
From Eras tour to engagement: A timeline of Kelce and Swift's relationship
She ended up dating the boy on the football team and is now headed for the holy ground of matrimony.
It’s been a long time coming for Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, whose romance has captivated the pop music world for two years.
News broke in April 2023 that Swift ended her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn just as her world tour was picking up steam in the United States. Kelce appears to have remained single after breaking up with his longtime girlfriend and sports journalist Kayla Nicole in 2022.
The Chief’s tight end attended the Eras Tour in July 2023 when Swift was performing at Arrowhead Stadium, his team’s home turf. Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, later discussed his appearance at the concert on their podcast “New Heights” and a clip of it was posted to their TikTok account July 2023. Kelce did more than just drop a hint that he was interested in Swift — he publicly declared his interest in her to the world.
The first conclusive evidence of Swift and Kelce seeing each other came on Sept. 24, 2023, when Swift showed up to Arrowhead Stadium to witness Kelce’s Chiefs thump the Chicago Bears.
Gambling operators turn engagement into business opportunity
Spurred by the engagement of Kelce and Swift, sports gambling operators in the U.S. began promoting a host of bets today, including new "prop" bets. Where some bets are placed on who will win or lose a game, a prop bet allows a bettor to wager on an individual occurrence within that game, whether on the field or off it.
Some sportsbooks began promoting bets on Kelce's performance during the 2025 season, and that of his team, Kansas City.
This isn't the first time sportsbooks have used the white-hot spotlight around and popularity of the couple as a business opportunity.
During the playoffs of the 2023 season, their first together as a couple, there were even bets that Kelce would propose on the field after the 2024 Super Bowl, Variety reported at the time.
SoFi Stadium, home to the Rams and Chargers, offers itself as a wedding venue
The venue that houses both of Los Angeles' NFL teams is opening its doors to Kelce and Swift ... if they are in need of a wedding venue.
SoFi Stadium, which also played host to Swift's Eras Tour stop in L.A., posted on X after the news of the engagement dropped on social media.
"Just putting it out there that we’re available for wedding bookings," the stadium's post on X said.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Wild Wings joked it can cater.
How Travis Kelce has pivoted to being an entertainer in his own right
As Travis Kelce gears up for what could be his final season in the NFL, he has dipped his toes in the entertainment waters the last few years, perhaps signaling a possible post-football career.
In the last two years, Kelce had his first acting role in the FX show “Grotesquerie,” hosted the game show “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?,” and also played a small role in “Happy Gilmore 2.”
Kelce, however, admitted to GQ in a story published earlier this month his entertainment aspirations could have played a role in his on-field production — which was lower than normal — last season.
“I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up,” Kelce told GQ. “And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer.”
He added: “I don’t say this as ‘I shouldn’t have done it.’ I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
Here's how some brands are getting in on the news
As fans made a mad dash to social media to congratulate Swift and Kelce, several brands seized the opportunity to share sweet and funny posts.
Krispy Kreme, for example, said it is offering free doughnuts "for the class" in honor of their engagement at select shops.
Check out other reactions below.
The Chiefs call engagement news 'a fairytale'
The Kansas City Chiefs shared their support for Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift with a post on X.
“Today is a fairytale,” the post read. “Congrats to Travis and Taylor—we’re excited to have you as a permanent member of the Chiefs Kingdom family!”
Swift has become a fixture at Chiefs games over the last two seasons since first supporting Kelce in person during a September 2023 home game. She has also attended each of the last two Super Bowls.
Kansas City drafted Kelce in 2013, and he’s played his entire career so far with the team.
Swift and Kelce's Instagram post racked up more than 14 million likes in an hour, Meta says
Swift and Kelce's post on Instagram announcing their engagement earned more than 14 million likes and 425,000 reposts in just over an hour.
"Taylor Swift has also remained in the top trending topics on Threads since the announcement," Meta said in an email to NBC News. (Meta is the parent company of Instagram, Threads and Facebook.)
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that Instagram had crashed for some users.
“We fixed an issue that briefly caused some people problems with accessing Instagram," the spokesperson said. "Turns out Instagram needed to process this news, just like everyone else.”
Even at U.S. Open, love's in the air
Tuesday's U.S. Open first-round match between top-seeded Jannik Sinner and Vit Kopriva was going as expected, with Sinner rolling, when news of the unexpected broke on social media: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were engaged.
On the Open broadcast from New York, there was some momentary confusion during the broadcast about what exactly had just transpired.
No, the news was not related to Swift's new album.
Taylor Swift and BFF Selena Gomez are now engaged at the same time
Selena Gomez and bestie Taylor Swift can officially go through the wedding planning process together.
Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement earlier today, just eight months after Gomez shared that she was engaged to music producer Benny Blanco.
“Forever begins now,” Gomez captioned a collage of photos on Dec. 11 that included her ring and the happy couple smiling.
“yes I will be the flower girl,” Swift responded.
President Donald Trump responds to Swift and Kelce's news
When told about Swift and Kelce's engagement during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said, “Well I wish them a lot of luck."
He described Kelce as a great player and said Swift is a "terrific person.”
Earlier this year, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Super Bowl. He welcomed this year's winning team, the Philadelphia Eagles, at the White House to celebrate the their 2025 Super Bowl victory. He mused about being at the game at the same time as Swift.
Only one Chiefs player has spoken about the engagement so far
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce did Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs teammates and coaches a favor with the timing of their engagement announcement, as their Instagram announcement came when only one player was scheduled to speak with the media following a Chiefs practice Tuesday.
That means defensive end Mike Danna, thus far, is the only player on Kansas City to field questions about the engagement, as he was informed of the news as he walked into his press conference.
“I don’t know nothing!” Danna said, according to The Kansas City Star.
Danna added: “It’s incredible, man. Great for them, and that’s a blessing. Anytime you find that type of joy, happiness and love, I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Danna didn’t speak much to a personal relationship with Swift, though he did mention enjoying her homemade Pop-Tarts during the team’s New Year’s Eve party last year.
“Them things will get you in trouble because those are like dessert and those are like fire,” Danna said. “So if you have one, best believe you’re gonna want two, maybe three.”
Swift's engagement brought into 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' discourse
Jere, are you seeing this?
With news of Swift’s engagement, fans of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" began drawing comparisons to the pop star's very real ring with the ring given to the fictional Belly Conklin by Jeremiah Fisher.
The engagement between the two characters has been a source of ragebait for many fans of Jenny Han's book-turned-Amazon series.
Swift's songs also serve as a vital part of the show, used in the soundtrack often as a way to showcase how Belly is feeling about Jeremiah, and his brother, Conrad (her first love).
The overlapping fandoms used Swift's announcement to reshare their thoughts on how Belly and Jeremiah shouldn't end up together.
Some fans also speculated Swift must be team Conrad.
Watch NBC News anchors react to Taylor and Travis engagement
Watch the moment NBC News Daily anchors Morgan Radford and Vicky Nguyen break the news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement live on air.
Engagement receives NFL's approval
The league on Tuesday posted not one but two congratulatory messages surrounding Swift and Kelce's engagement on X to its nearly 38 million followers.
One post featured a clip of Kelce and Swift celebrating after Kansas City won the 2024 Super Bowl, in Las Vegas.
The other reshared their engagement photo and congratulated them.
Engagement ring (Taylor’s Version)
NBC News can confirm that Kelce purchased the ring — which features four prongs and a button back, or a small bezel around the stone — at Artifex Fine Jewelry, an online jeweler that claims to craft jewelry with natural stones.
Artifex Fine currently appears to be promoting a “from the vault...” collection, that could definitely be a nod to some of Swift’s most recently released songs.
Swift’s “vault tracks” were released with her re-recorded albums, which she dubbed songs she wrote during the time of the original recording but didn’t make it to the album. Years later, she produced and recorded them and shared them with the world.
People online have been freaking out about the massive diamond, which is set in yellow gold. The ring is an old mine brilliant cut — or an antique elongated cushion — that is approximately 8 to 10 carats, Stephanie Gottlieb, Founder and Creative Director at Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry, said in an email. A natural diamond this size could range anywhere from $400,000 to $800,000, depending on the particular specs, Gottlieb explained.
Swift is entering her 'showgirl' and fiancé era at the same time
Earlier this month, Swift surprised fans by announcing her new album: "The Life of a Showgirl."
It’s clear that her new era will be defined by the colors orange and mint green.
The cover for the 12th studio album includes Swift seemingly submerged while wearing a jeweled top with her face slightly above water. “The Life of a Showgirl” is emblazoned in orange glitter.
Swifties are searching her name on Google
According to Google Trends, in the past hour the states and districts with the highest level of search interest in Taylor Swift are, in order: Kansas, Missouri and Washington, D.C.
The states showing the lowest levels of search interest? Alaska, Nevada and New Mexico.
'How it started' versus 'how it's going'
The New Heights podcast celebrated news of co-host Travis Kelce's engagement by posting a throwback clip from the episode in which the Chiefs star declared a proclamation of his interest after attending Swift's concert.
He said during the podcast that he had made a friendship bracelet for Swift, but didn't have a chance to give it to her.
A new episode of the podcast is expected to drop on Aug. 27, to correspond with the return of the NFL season.
The podcast that predated the engagement news
Swift’s recent — and first — podcast appearance on “New Heights,” hosted by Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, broke the record for the most concurrent views for a podcast on YouTube, Guinness World Records announced today.
A total of 1.3 million people simultaneously tuned in to the podcast when it aired on YouTube on Aug. 13, the world record counter shared. As of Tuesday, the podcast episode had 20 million views on YouTube.
The over-two-hour podcast fed Swifties with details of Swift and Travis Kelce’s love life and the behind-the-scenes drama of Swift reclaiming her master recordings. Some other topics of discussion included the “Eras Tour,” Swift’s famous Easter eggs and Jason Kelce’s hatred of cats.
How Swift and Kelce's relationship inspired others
The hype over Swift and Kelce's relationship pushed some people to re-examine what they look for in partners.
While no one knows what their very viral and public relationship is like behind closed doors, many fans — who have parasocial relationships with Swift — are rooting for her happiness. Kelce, it seems, is the fairy tale match they hoped she would find.
As NBC News reported in 2023, Kelce was on the sidelines of her Eras Tour show with Swift’s dad, singing along to “Blank Space” and grinning when Swift changes the lyrics to “Karma” to refer to him. He caught her in his arms when she ran to give him a kiss at her show. He constantly praises her on his podcast. Even before the two were romantically linked, Kelce was a fan with a friendship bracelet and a dream.
The Instagram post in everyone's group chats
Swift and Kelce announced the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday, featuring a slideshow of photos from the proposal, along with a shot of the large diamond set in yellow gold.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the post’s caption said.
