By now, it's no surprise that there is a heavy crossover between Taylor Swift fans and NFL fans.
Since the pop star was first linked to dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in 2023, Swift has become a mainstay in football coverage, from time in the TV broadcast spotlight to constant media attention on what she and Kelce are up to next. But despite Swift and Kelce spending so much time in headlines, they had rarely, if ever, spoken together in an interview. That was, until August 2025.
On Travis and Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast, which has been one of the most popular sports podcasts out there even before the Swift-infused boosts, the two sat down with Swift for an episode that released on Wednesday, Aug. 13. The brothers covered everything from Travis' relationship with Swift to the music star announcing her new album that will be released in October 2025.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Naturally, with Swift rarely speaking publicly alongside Kelce despite their fame, it was arguably the most highly anticipated interview of 2025 so far. And when it came to the viewing numbers, that anticipation showed.
Here's how Swift's appearance on "New Heights" grew some significant viewership in mere minutes of its premiere on YouTube.
MORE: Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship timeline, from first meeting to "New Heights"
How many people watched Taylor Swift's 'New Heights' episode?
Given that there are plenty of platforms to watch or listen to podcasts like "New Heights," there is no official number for how many people watched (or listened to) Swift's appearance with the Kelce brothers. However, on YouTube, where the show premiered on Wednesday, it certainly hit some impressive marks.
MORE: Best moments from Taylor Swift's 'New Heights' appearance
Within the first 15 minutes of the premiere dropping, Swift's appearance on "New Heights" had over 1 million viewers.
Over 1 million people are currently watching Taylor Swift's appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast on YouTube 😳 pic.twitter.com/mYq5H9zRID
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 13, 2025
By the time the interview had gone on for over an hour, it had 1.3 million viewers for the live premiere. That live number set a record for most concurrent podcast listeners ever.
Even in the time leading up to the premiere, "New Heights" was seeing a spike in views and new followers:
Taylor Swift will appear on the next New Heights episode tonight—and the show has already seen a major spike in views and followers across platforms 📈 pic.twitter.com/39mDTEoHc9
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 13, 2025
MORE: Why 'New Heights' fans are called '92 percenters'
The "New Heights" account's official X post, where Swift announced her new album, reached nearly 1 million views on Wednesday night.
Get a first look at the cover of Taylor’s new album The Life of a Showgirl
— New Heights (@newheightshow) August 13, 2025
Available for pre-order now at https://t.co/aYNn7lTXv8 and releasing everywhere 10/3
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW … And, baby, that’s show business for you ❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/BULHWUkDC4
The exact number of YouTube views will constantly update, but it set a "New Heights" record for most YouTube views in less than a day, reaching 8.9 million views in 13 hours.
Here's the current list of most-viewed "New Heights" episodes via YouTube:
| Rank | YouTube Views | Guest | Publish Date |
| 1 | 15.2 million+ | Taylor Swift | Aug. 13, 2025 |
| 2 | 8.6 million | Kylie Kelce | Sept. 6, 2023 |
| 3 | 6 million | Patrick Mahomes | Dec. 1, 2022 |
| 4 | 5.1 million | Julian Edelman | July 29, 2023 |
| 5 | 3.7 million | Donna and Ed Kelce | Feb. 6, 2023 |
| 6 | 3.7 million | N/A (Discussing Super Bowl 58) | Feb. 14, 2024 |
| 7 | 3.5 million | Shannon Sharpe | April 12, 2023 |
| 8 | 3.2 million | Andy Reid | May 10, 2023 |
MORE: Breaking down the most popular 'New Heights' episodes ever
Did New Heights glitch during Taylor Swift episode?
The premiere of Swift's episode on "New Heights" initially came to an abrupt ending on Wednesday due to a technical glitch. There's no indication of whether or not it was related to the volume of viewers, but the official "New Heights" account shared that the premiere had "hit a glitch."
We hit a glitch but will be back shortly!!!
— New Heights (@newheightshow) August 14, 2025
After the small delay, the rest of the episode was aired on YouTube.
Shoutout all the 92%ers and swifties for actually helping us break the internet https://t.co/5cLK4skkjp
— New Heights (@newheightshow) [external-article-link original_href="https://twitter.com/newheightshow/status/1955794113099653519?[external-article-link original_href="https://twitter.com/newheightshow/status/1955794113099653519?https:="" dial1yorlb[="" external-article-link]<="" https:="" p="" t.co="">— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CaitlinClark22/status/1955802340038205615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src='https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'></script></blockquote></blockquote>