It was a school drop-off made for their wildest dreams. Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” pulsed on a stereo. Students piled out of S.U.V.s wearing Travis Kelce jerseys. Teachers donned Swiftie friendship bracelets and T-shirts with Mr. Kelce’s face.
The Kansas City area has been in a state of exuberant, shameless joy since Mr. Kelce, the star tight end of the hometown Chiefs, and Ms. Swift, the pop icon and Arrowhead Stadium regular, announced their engagement on Tuesday. And at the Barstow School in Kansas City, Mo., students and employees were invited to dress up for an impromptu spirit day to celebrate the couple’s romance.
“I think it’s very fairy tale-ish,” said Anh Griffith, who wore a Chiefs shirt on Wednesday as she dropped off her two sons, both in Chiefs jerseys.
For two football seasons now, this region has cherished being home to one of the world’s most closely watched relationships. The couple, which got together during the most dominant era in the team’s history, has given a burst of self-assured swagger to a proud city that has often felt overlooked. The collective decision has been to go unabashedly, unapologetically all in on the Kelce-Swift experience.
When the engagement news hit, residents spoke with affection about the two people most of them had never met, but who had come to feel almost like dear friends or family.
“We do that with everybody we love, but especially when it’s on a literal world stage,” said Sarah Tulp, a Barstow School employee wearing Mr. Kelce’s No. 87 jersey and a skort modeled after one she said Ms. Swift once wore.
The local merchandising machine kicked into gear this week, too. New T-shirts with “Kansas City Ringdom” stamped on them? Sure. Drink specials and pastries with Swiftie references? Why not.
Kyle Hoffpauir, who works in construction, arrived on Tuesday afternoon at the Westside Storey gift shop in Kansas City, Mo., on a mission to get his wife a “Mr. Swift” T-shirt. They were out of her size, so he opted to get her earrings adorned with an 87.
“We’re the same age as Taylor Swift, so she grew up with her,” Mr. Hoffpauir said of his wife. “I’m a closeted Swiftie, too.”
He was hardly alone. Mayor Quinton Lucas reiterated online an offer to officiate the wedding. The city’s Union Station was illuminated on Tuesday night in Chiefs colors and those of Ms. Swift’s upcoming album. Even the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art pitched itself on Facebook as “the perfect venue for gym and English teachers alike,” riffing on the language used in the couple’s engagement announcement.
All over town, businesses got in on the act. The Made in KC Cafe offered a buy-one, get-one promotion on the “Swelce,” a lavender honey latte. Just across the state line in Prairie Village, Kan., Dolce Bakery advertised its “Swiftie Collection,” with heart-shaped cakes that say, “Baby, just say yes,” and “Karma is the fiancé on the Chiefs.” Over in the Westside neighborhood, Fetch KC updated its sidewalk sandwich board with an urgent, all-caps question: “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU HEARD ABOUT THE ROYAL WEDDING?”
People here know that there are skeptics. They have heard fans of other N.F.L. teams grumble about when cameras pan to Ms. Swift during Chiefs broadcasts. But to borrow a phrase from the Grammy-winning Ms. Swift, they shake it off.
Bryce Bailey, an assistant manager at the Made in KC gift shop, said customers were divided early on about the amount of Swift-themed merchandise. Some people loved it, he said, but others “would be like, Oh my God, there’s Taylor Swift stuff everywhere.”
But “as time has gone on, the city has fully embraced her,” Mr. Bailey said.
Kansas City, Mo., has half a million residents, and hundreds of thousands more are spread between neighboring Kansas City, Kan., and the suburbs. But when it comes to sports, the city’s vibe has long felt like a Big Ten campus. Residents wear Chiefs gear to work on Fridays during football season, and fans line up hours before kickoff to tailgate.
They realize that they are living through special times. Many endured decades when the Chiefs rarely won playoff games, and they know there is no guarantee that the recent success will last. Mr. Kelce, who has helped bring Kansas City three Super Bowl championships, is likely in the twilight of his playing career, and the sting of last season’s Super Bowl defeat is still raw.
There is an appreciation, too, of what it means in 2025 to share something that bisects all sorts of divides.
“The world right now is pretty upsetting, especially online,” said Stephanie Miller, who co-owns Fetch KC, which sells both Kansas City gear and items with progressive political messages. She said it has been refreshing “having something as small as a celebrity parasocial relationship that you can feel happy about.”
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
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