ESPN’s Laura Rutledge Is ‘Saddened’ Taylor Swift Still Faces NFL Backlash: ‘It Doesn’t Affect You’ (Exclusive)

As ESPN’s Laura Rutledge continues to break boundaries in sports media, she’s eager for all football fans to celebrate the diversity of the sport’s fan base.

Rutledge, 37, who joined ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage this year in addition to her duties on the network’s NFL Live, couldn’t help but notice some of the predictable social media backlash to Taylor Swift attending her fiancé Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football on Sunday, October 12. 

“I am shocked and saddened by it,” Rutledge exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with The Honey Baked Ham Company. “The reality is, how does it affect you negatively if there are more fans of a sport that you already like? Why is that a problem? If you really break it down to what it is at its core, they’re mad because an entire influx of a new audience might be watching a sport that they love. It literally doesn’t affect you. It’s fine! It’s OK!”

According to a 2025 SSRS Sports Poll, 47 percent of the U.S. NFL fan base is female, and women represent 40 percent of the league’s international growth. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in August, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said, “I’m pretty sure that the Chiefs ranked No. 1 among NFL teams in the female demographic.”

“One of the neatest things about what Taylor Swift has brought to this is that it’s been such an opportunity — not only for young women, but people who may not have really cared about football — to care and to want to watch,” Rutledge added. 

Whatever the case, Rutledge argued that Swift, 35, has hardly even been a focus of the broadcasts anymore.

“If you really break it down, nobody really shows her that much,” Rutledge said. “You’re still documenting the game. You’re not missing a play. They’re not missing snaps. They’re doing a great job of telling the story of the game. The reality is, which is a credit to her, she’s part of that story. And that should never be forgotten in all of this.”