Nobody’s Wi-Fi was safe this week. Taylor Swift showed up on Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast for the first time, and the internet went in all crazy. The numbers in the first two days are jaw-dropping.
On Friday, Front Office Sports tallied the engagement. More than 60 million views on X. Another 379 million on Instagram. TikTok clocked 34.5 million. YouTube? Fifteen million. And 1.3 million people tuned in live for the premiere. That’s not just big, that’s the kind of reach most shows can’t touch in a year.
The traffic even pushed the channel past three million Instagram followers. Over 400,000 new subscribers joined on YouTube. The episode set a new milestone for the most concurrent podcast listeners the show has ever had. The surge was so intense that the platform struggled to keep up at one point.
NFL fans, pop fans, and the simply curious all had something to say. Some admitted they still don’t get the Swift phenomenon, but couldn’t argue with the results.
Taylor Swift’s debut on New Heights:
• 379M views on Instagram
• 61.6M views on X
• 34.5M views on TikTok
• 15M views on YouTube
• 1.3M live viewers
• Episode stream crashed
• Passed 3M followers on Instagram
• 400K+ new YouTube subscribers since
• Most concurrent… pic.twitter.com/zIRYCgK8UT— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 15, 2025
“I’m not a fan of her type of music but I don’t see anything wrong with people liking her,” one person wrote. “She makes music about cool stuff like relationships and life. She’s not all about money and fame, so in that aspect she’s alright.”
I’m not a fan of her type of music but I don’t see anything wrong with people liking her.
She makes music about cool s*** like relationships and life. She’s not all about money and fame, so in that aspect she’s alright.— Jason (@JasonRCoolidge) August 15, 2025
“I’m happy for them,” another said for Kelce and Swift.
I’m happy for them.
— DemPicks (@SolidPicks88) August 15, 2025
Others made it simple: “Don’t compare anyone to big Taylor.”
Don’t compare anyone to big Taylor https://t.co/CpxA3pG4gG
— Nick (@Genesis_NLT) August 15, 2025
And then there were the ones just trying to wrap their heads around it: “I genuinely don’t understand how she can be this big?? Someone explain to me. These are insane numbers.”
I genuinely don’t understand how she can be this big?? Someone explain to me. These are insane numbers.
— ⚡️JAE HERBO⚡️ (@jae_h3rbo) August 15, 2025
While the episode still trails the all-time record for most-watched YouTube podcast episode, it’s already made a mark. The scale of engagement shows exactly why NFL broadcasts can’t resist panning to Swift in the stands during Chiefs games.
For Kelce and his team, it’s a win that goes far beyond clicks. It cements New Heights as a show capable of drawing mainstream and sports audiences in one swoop. For Swift, it’s just another reminder that her cultural pull doesn’t have an off switch. And if the current momentum keeps up, even the all-time record might not be safe for long.
