I don’t follow sports nor care enough about pop music to really know what was going on. I truly though she would be performing with the sheer amount of press on the matter even here. What the hell did Republicans think she was going to do inside a luxury box other than have weirdos snap photos of her drinking beer?
Other people have explained the conspiracy theories and just that Swifties are a somewhat untapped audience for the NFL. But I’ll just add that it’s not the first time the broadcasters got obsessed with a player’s telegenic wife or girlfriend. (WAGs is a whole term popularized by the UK media covering soccer players’ wives and girlfriends.)
This time, the girlfriend happened to be one of the most famous people on Earth so it was everywhere. But I remember in like 2007 when Brady Quinn’s sister, Laura was dating AJ Hawk in college. Brady and A.J. were on opposing teams for a big game so she wore a half Ohio State and half Notre Dame jersey. They interviewed her on the pregame show and showed her so much, I still remember eventually getting annoyed. (She is apparently now Laura Quinn Hawk so I guess the relationship worked out.)
Sports broadcasters always show celebrities and, if they’re media-friendly, WAGs. Like any NBA game in NYC or Los Angeles has a “celebs in attendance” moment. Sometimes, it becomes a whole media thing. I remember a game where Beyoncé and Jay Z sat court side for a game Lebron was playing (for Miami). Lebron talked to them for a minute and Beyoncé looked flirty and impressed with Lebron at one point. It got the NBA in every gossip magazine for a week and I’m sure they happily provided permission to use photos and videos.