Who Is Worth More: Taylor Swift Or Travis Kelce
Taylor Swift's love for country music was born at a young age, and she was barely in her teens when she first visited Nashville with a demo on an ultimately unsuccessful Music Row hunt. But Swift didn't give up on her dream. Her financially savvy parents were understandably reluctant to leave their family farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania behind, but eventually gave in to their daughter's request to relocate to Tennessee. The bargain clearly paid off, as Swift has since enjoyed a critically and commercially thriving career. It's something the singer-songwriter doesn't take for granted. "It's crazy that the fans are willing to go out and invest their hard-earned money in buying this album," Swift told WCBC-FM of her pop masterpiece "1989."
Although they love her music, Swifties worldwide are interested the hitmaker's love life, too. Since September 2023, Swift's burgeoning relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has got everyone's attention. As a two-time Super Bowl winner, the fan-favorite athlete is a huge success in his own right — and with big, potentially lucrative plans for the future. That June, Kelce told Vanity Fair that he was interested in pursuing everything comedic acting gigs to becoming an NFL color analyst. "I could sit there, talk football, and make it relatable," the Ohio native said of the latter, adding, "And I could bring the juice."
Meanwhile, NFL paydays obviously don't come cheap either. Kelce's estimated net worth stands at $40 million, as of this writing. But the multi-millionaire's fortune is just a fraction of his girlfriend's, with Swift reportedly boasting an astounding $1.1 billion to her name.
Taylor Swift broke her own record with the Reputation Tour
In 2009, Taylor Swift debuted her "Fearless Tour," which grossed a total of $40.3 million and pulled a crowd of over 643,000 in its 2010 leg. Cumulatively, the tour backing her Grammy-winning sophomore effort brought in a little over $63.3 million in revenue and sold out dozens of shows.
But that was just the beginning, as Swift's subsequent tours were even more successful. The "Speak Now World Tour" had the "Mean" hitmaker traversing multiple continents, coming to a close in Auckland, New Zealand. By November 2011, it had made upwards of $83 million in its North American run alone. Swift's next world tour for "Red" earned a reported $150 million in gross earnings, which broke Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's "Soul2Soul II Tour" record (set at $141 million in 2007). Swift later became the female performer with the highest-grossing U.S. tour revenue at $181.5 million with "The 1989 World Tour," and she went on to smash her own record by raking in an excess $10 million and some change during the "Reputation Stadium Tour" in 2018.
For the "Look What You Made Me Do" singer, touring for her "Reputation" album proved to be both a financial and personal success. "That tour put me in the healthiest, most balanced place I've ever been," Swift told Rolling Stone in a 2019 interview. "Something about that tour made me disengage from some part of public perception I used to hang my entire identity on, which I now know is incredibly unhealthy."
Travis Kelce blew his first NFL paycheck
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce joined the three-time Super Bowl champions back in the 2013 draft alongside linebacker Nico Johnson. Kelce earned upwards of $800,000 bonus payment before taxes and wound up with a figure near $600,000, as he revealed on his "New Heights" podcast a decade later. He bought expensive Nike sneakers that stood the test of time (details on this later), but quickly ran out of money.
"I have nothing else to show for that first check, and I felt so f***ing stupid," Kelce remarked. "... I was damn near dead broke." At the time, the NFL was structured in a way that players wouldn't have money coming in weekly once the season came to an end. So, how did the rookie tight end blow away over half a million dollars? You may ask. Kelce revealed that he and some of his teammates would fly in private jets to places like Las Vegas and Florida during their days off, and the nightlife ultimately took away his earnings. "I spent way too much money in clubs, and I was avoiding the rent lady, because I was so stupid to agree to all those bottles," he continued.
As Kelce shared with Stash Wealth in February 2023, that fast life could only last up to a year: He had one too many humiliating moments when broke and learned lessons of saving and investing from his financial mistakes, which eventually led to a change in his lifestyle.
Her re-released music sold more copies than the originals
In June 2019, Taylor Swift's apparent nemesis, Scooter Braun, acquired her former record label, Big Machine Records, for a price north of $300 million. Through the purchase, Braun automatically gained ownership of the master recordings of Swift's first six albums. Swift took to Tumblr to express her disappointment with the sale. Accusing Braun of years of "incessant, manipulative bullying," she wrote of her prior record deal, "For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and 'earn' one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in."
The singer-songwriter, who had signed with Republic Records and Universal Music Group in 2018, began re-releasing her music in 2021 as a means to regain ownership of her work. Since the debut of "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" that April, the hitmaker's re-released records have sold more than her original releases within the same time frame. By July 2023, 737,000 copies of "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" had flown off the shelves against the OG "Fearless" album's 41,000 copies. Similarly, 950,000 copies of "Red (Taylor's Version)" had been purchased since its release, compared to 45,000 copies of Swift's fourth studio album "Red."
Around that time, "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" sold 716,000 copies in its first week. Meanwhile, "1989 (Taylor's Version)" became a Spotify first as the most streamed body of work on its release day, and nabbed Swift her 12th No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart.
Is the Kansas City Chiefs tight end 'underpaid'?
Through their official X (formerly Twitter) account, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that Travis Kelce had entered into an extension agreement with the team in 2016. The deal turned out to be a five-year-long pact worth $46 million, with a sure $20 million to boot. In August 2020, Kelce signed yet another contract with the Chiefs, valued at $57 million over a four-year period. However, in his June 2023 conversation with Vanity Fair, the athlete shared that his associates disapprove of his $11.25 million a year paycheck.
"My managers and agents love to tell me how underpaid I am," Kelce told the publication. "Any time I talk about wanting more money, they're just like, 'Why don't you go to the Chiefs and ask them?'" Kelce has been tied with the Chiefs throughout his NFL career and could potentially make more if he moved to another team. For example, his former teammate, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, secured a $120 million contract in a trade to the Miami Dolphins.
Of that deal, Kelce noted, "When I saw Tyreek go and get 30 [million] a year, in the back of my head, I was like, man, that's two to three times what I'm making right now. You see how much more money you could be making and, yeah, it hits you in the gut a little bit." He added, "It makes you think you're being taken advantage of."
Midnights was a commercially successful album
In October 2022, Taylor Swift released "Midnights," her 10th studio album. Earlier that year, Swift announced the coming of "Midnights" in an Instagram post, calling it, "The stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life." Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turned out to be wildly successful upon its release. In addition to being Spotify's most-streamed album within a day of its debut, "Midnights" had a great first week in sales, with an equivalent of 1.578 million album units earned in the United States — beating out any other 2022 releases and only coming second to Adele's third studio album, 2015's "25."
With hits like "Anti-Hero" and "Bejeweled," the body of work was by all accounts a chart magnet that dominated the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 spots, an unprecedented feat in the chart's history. "10 out of 10 of the Hot 100??? On my 10th album??? I AM IN SHAMBLES," Swift tweeted. During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Swift showed appreciation to all Swifties in light of her triumph over the success of "Midnights" — and also brought attention to ageism in the music industry. "I'm feeling very overwhelmed by the fans' love for the record," she remarked, before going on to quip, "I'm 32. So, we're considered geriatric pop stars. They start trying to put us out to pasture at age 25. I'm just happy to be here."
The following June, "Midnights" climbed back on the Billboard 200 chart following deluxe and vinyl releases, recording an additional 198,000 in album sales.
Travis Kelce reportedly spent around $6 million on a mansion
As Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship got more heated in October 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end reportedly purchased a Kansas City home for close to $6 million. According to TMZ Sports, Kelce's new residence exceeded his former house in size and offered some much-needed isolation in a gated community. The NFL star reportedly purchased the 16,000-square-foot house to keep the public away, as the lack of privacy at his former residence became bothersome amid his headline-making relationship. Meanwhile, the mansion additionally tapped into opulence at its best, boasting of a swimming pool that has a waterfall accessory, tennis and pickleball courts, a small golf course, and six bedrooms and baths.
Real estate isn't the only investment Kelce has made, however. The athlete united with his teammate, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and other sports stars to add to the Formula 1 Alpine racing team investor group, Otro Capital. "I am thrilled to lead an investor group and join forces with Patrick and the team at Otro Capital on this exciting venture with Alpine F1," Kelce stated when the October 2023 deal was made public. "Our shared passion for excellence and innovation forms the cornerstone of this partnership."
Taylor Swift has a real estate portfolio valued at over $150 million
According to The Wall Street Journal, Taylor Swift's first major endeavor into real estate came in 2009, with a Nashville penthouse — plus a one-bedroom apartment one floor below — she bought via a trust for $2.377 million total. The Adelicia condominium property has since increased in value, said to potentially fetch an amount more than twice its original price in early 2023.
Swift next parted with a reported $2.5 million two years later in order to secure the Northumberland Estate in Nashville for her mother. Its estimated market price stood at $8 million in 2023. The "Back to December" singer later acquired an 11,000-square-foot Rhode Island residence valued at $17.75 million in 2013 (and $30 million a decade later). Swift was intrigued by its former owner, Rebekah Harkness, whom she sang about in "The Last Great American Dynasty." "I got the house when I was in my early twenties as a place for my family to congregate and be together," she shared with Entertainment Weekly in 2020. "I was told about her [Harkness], I think, by the real estate agent who was walking us through the property. And as soon as I found out about her, I wanted to know everything I could."
The "Lavender Haze" hitmaker's other major real estate investments have included the $25 million Goldwyn Estate in Beverly Hills in 2015, two New York City penthouses worth $19.95 million in 2014 — which Swift turned into a duplex — plus a $9.75 million apartment and $18 million townhouse in the building next door in 2017.
The NFL star's sneaker collection is worth hundreds of thousands
When Travis Kelce first got signed to the Kansas City Chiefs, he satisfied a very expensive taste in shoes, as previously mentioned: the Nike Air MAG Marty McFly's, which retailed for six figures. "As soon as I got my check, I immediately went online and sourced them," he said on the "New Heights" podcast in May 2023. "... I had always wanted those shoes." The pair also happens to be his go-to shoes for a stroke of good luck.
Apart from the "Back to the Future" shoes, Kelce is quite the sneakerhead, with a vast collection of at least 300 pairs worth over $100,000, as he shared with OffCOURT Sports in 2021. Kelce revealed that his passion for sneakers began back in the '90s when he was a staunch basketball enthusiast. Of course, sports stars like Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway were in the spotlight for their Nike partnerships back then.
Among Kelce's list of favorites were Lebron James' Nike Air Zoom Generation, which returned to shelves in March 2023 for the price of $180. The tight end was excited when they first hit the market, just as he was when Drake unveiled the Air Jordan and Drake OVO collaboration. "It's so clean," Kelce said of the shoe, which retailed at around $164 in 2023. "It's got the gold flakes and the gum." To crown his top three, Kelce showcased a pair of Air Jordan 1 "Pinnacle" pack shoes with 24K gold features, valued at $400 back in 2015.
The singer-songwriter has endorsed and partnered with top brands
Over the years, Taylor Swift has represented numerous brands. She was announced as a brand ambassador for L.E.I. jeans in 2008, and she was unveiled as the face of CoverGirl's NatureLuxe line two years later. In 2013, the "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer partnered with Diet Coke in a years-long endorsement. "I've said for years that Diet Coke just 'gets me' and my lifestyle. I'm so excited about our new partnership," Swift stated at the time, per Billboard. The same year, she collaborated with footwear line Keds as a part of the brand's young female audience campaign.
Swift took her endorsement game a notch higher by signing a multiple-year deal with AT&T in 2016, which saw her become the main act at the DIRECTV Super Saturday Night in Houston. The "Ready For It" singer has also had her own products for sale, signing a perfume production agreement with Elizabeth Arden in 2011, which birthed her own "Wonderstruck" fragrance.
While the exact value of a Swift endorsement or partnership is not known, as of this writing, she was reportedly close to sealing a $100 million deal with Sam Bankman-Fried's now-bankrupt FTX company in 2022, per the Financial Times.
Travis Kelce has equally partnered with major companies
Just like Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce has bagged endorsement deals with major companies. In 2021, the Nike fan partnered with the brand to introduce his own shoes, the Nike Blazer Mid '77 Vintage, to the market at a retail price of $120. As of this writing, Kelce's Alpha Menace Elite 3's — also by Nike — are sold at a discounted price of $122.97.
In July 2023, Kelce appeared in a Bud Light commercial. That October, the tight end collaborated with teammate Patrick Mahomes in a State Farm commercial, during which he was christened "MaAuto," a name he amusingly didn't take a liking to. Having also worked with lead vaccine producer Pfizer to help promote that year's COVID-19 booster shot, there's no doubt that Kelce is smiling all the way to the bank. Exactly how much does the sports star make using his image? According to sports marketing analyst Bob Dorfman, who spoke to Business Insider in September 2023, "It's estimated Kelce currently makes around $5 million a year in off-the-field earnings, and I wouldn't be surprised if he doubles that number."
Dorfman also dubbed the tight end as "one of football's most successful endorsers" prior to his popular romance with Swift. Given the surge in his social media followers alone around this time, as Dorfman surmised, dating Swift has most likely put Kelce on an even higher earning trajectory.
The Eras Tour made Taylor Swift a billionaire
As previously mentioned, while Travis Kelce is undeniably super rich, Taylor Swift is clearly the more bankable partner here since acquiring her billionaire status in 2023. Set to come to an end in Vancouver in December 2024, her international "Eras Tour" has marked her most successful one yet. Per Forbes, the massively popular tour kicked off in March 2023 and had amassed a whopping $780 million off of ticket sales alone by that October.
For her part, Swift not only reportedly netted $190 million from the U.S. leg of the tour, but also went on to bag an additional $35 million from its subsequent flick "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie" after only its first two weeks at the box office that same month. In addition to her aforementioned endorsements, partnerships, and impressive real estate portfolio, Swift's deep pockets are also the results of royalties, her costly music catalog, and a $10 million private aircraft.
But this music star isn't the only one who's benefiting financially. Swift reportedly awarded her "Eras Tour" truckers $100,000 each in bonuses just before her Santa Clara, California concert that August, per TMZ. With 50 truckers working to ensure Swift's gear made it safely to each destination, she was estimated to have spent $5 million in total. People further reported that all other members of Swift's touring team received perks that added up to $55 million in total. Of Swift's generosity, transportation company owner Mike Scherkenbach told Rolling Stone, "She's giving a sum of money that is life-changing for these people."