It looks like Taylor Swift will make it to the Super Bowl after all
Toru Hanai/AP
- Jet trackers say Taylor Swift is already back in the US to attend the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
- Whether the global superstar would make the game has been an object of intense speculation.
- Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, will play at the game on Sunday
Taylor Swift may have landed back in the States on Saturday, raising hopes that the global superstar will attend the Super Bowl on Sunday to watch her man.
On social media, fans of Taylor Swift and aviation journalists believe they've identified Swift's private jet, labeled “The Football Era." It arrived from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Los Angeles' LAX airport just after 3:30 p.m. local time.
Her transportation plans to Las Vegas, where her boyfriend, NFL star tight end Travis Kelce, will play in Sunday's Super Bowl, have yet to be revealed.
Eric Thayer/AP
Swift's last song was still ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night when the singer rushed to Haneda airport, presumably embarking on an intensely scrutinized journey to see Kelce.
“We're all gonna go on a great adventure,” Swift told the crowd earlier. She was speaking of the music, but it might also describe her race against time, which was to cross nine time zones and the international date line.
With a final bow at the end of her sold-out show, clad in a blue sequined outfit, the crowd screaming, strobe lights pulsing, confetti falling, Swift disappeared beneath the stage, and her journey to the other side of the world began.
Toru Hanai/AP
Her expected trip to see Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas has fired imaginations and speculation for weeks.
Her expected arrival to the big game influences whole economic sectors: Fashion brands worn by Swift during football games are seeing a boost in sales and the NFL is being promoted to Swift fans halfway across the world.
“I hope she can return in time. It’s so romantic," said office worker Hitomi Takahashi, 29, who bought matching Taylor Swift sweatshirts with her friend and took photos just outside the Tokyo Dome.
About an hour after the end of the concert, AP journalists were near Haneda’s private jet area when minivans drove up, and someone went inside the gate area, as four to five people carrying large black umbrellas obstructed the view of the person.
To call the worldwide scrutiny of Swift's travels intense is an understatement
Fans have tracked her jet. The planet-warming carbon emissions of her globe-trotting travels have been criticized. Officials have weighed in on her ability to park her jet at Las Vegas airports.
Even Japanese diplomats have gotten into the act. The Japanese Embassy in Washington posted on social media that she could make the Super Bowl in time, including in their statement three Swift song titles — “Speak Now,” “Fearless,” and “Red."
Swift, however, seems to be trying to push back on the criticisms. Business Insider reported that the jet-setting starlet downsized from two planes to one plane.
She also threatened to sue the man behind the account that tracks her jet — the source of most of her criticisms — claiming that the account would compromise her safety. A lawyer for Jack Sweeney, who runs the account, said Swift's claims were "unfounded."
Swift has been crisscrossing the globe this week
Before coming to Asia, she attended the Grammys in Los Angeles, winning her 14th Grammy and a record-breaking fourth Album of the Year award for “Midnights.” Nearly 17 million people watched the show. She also made a surprise announcement that her next album is ready to drop in April.
Then the four concerts in Tokyo, and now the trip back to the States. She has followed Kelce for much of the Chiefs’ season.
Swift is expected to fly to Australia later this week to continue her tour.
“This week is truly the best kind of chaos,” she posted Wednesday on Instagram.
Representatives for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.