Super Bowl 'Rigged' Rumors Take Internet By Storm After Chiefs Win

A host of detractors have baselessly claimed that Super Bowl LVIII was "rigged," following the Kansas City Chiefs victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Chiefs squeezed a 25-22 win in overtime over the San Francisco 49ers at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium on Sunday following a nail-biting game. The win secured back-to-back Super Bowl victories for the Chiefs.

However, as fans celebrated the win, it also sparked ire among a number of social media users who believed that the game was somehow scripted in the Chiefs' favor, particularly as the team's tight end, Travis Kelce, is dating pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, content creator Adin Ross stated that the "49ers deserved that win. It's so rigged I hope you guys can see it for what it is, truly rigged. Chiefs you guys got so lucky Taylor Swift bailed you guys out."

"Not even WWE can script this kind of rigged bulls***," wrote another commenter on X. "Never watching American football ever again."

"I'm being 100% serious, the NFL is actually rigged," another weighed in.

"It was rigged!!!" read a different post that accompanied a screenshot of a headline regarding Vivek Ramaswamy's previous suggestion that the game would be fixed.

Ramaswamy, who recently pulled out of the race for the GOP nomination and is now backing former President Donald Trump, also appeared to question the authenticity of Swift and Kelce's relationship.

"I wonder who's going to win the Super Bowl next month," Ramaswamy said on X late in January. "And I wonder if there's a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let's see how it ages over the next 8 months."

Newsweek has contacted a representative of the Chiefs via email for comment.

Ramaswamy's post, which as of press time had been viewed more than 2.7 million times, marks a continued trend in conservative criticism of Swift. Days before the Super Bowl, some GOP voters shared plans to boycott the game because of her expected presence.

Author and political columnist Seth Abramson poked fun at the the conservative outrage on Sunday, writing on X: "On behalf of America, thank you to all the MAGAs who made comedy legal on Twitter again tonight by tweeting repeatedly without irony that the Super Bowl was rigged.

"You made our day here on Earth Prime, thank you."

A survey conducted by LendingTree found that 13 percent of Americans are more interested in football thanks to Swift. Many fans watched for the Super Bowl for the first time ever because of her.

Distaste for Swift at games appears to have a lot to do with politics. Over the years, she has become more politically outspoken, endorsing President Joe Biden during his 2020 run for the White House, and publicly criticizing Trump.

While such actions would put her in line with countless other celebrities, her power and influence are likely major factors in why she faces increasing disapproval from some.

On September 19, National Voter Registration Day, the singer took to Instagram to share a message urging her fans to register on the nonpartisan, nonprofit Vote.org. According to the organization, Swift's post was followed by a surge of more than 35,000 registrations—an almost 25 percent increase over the same day the previous year.

Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, said in a statement that the single-day surge in registrations was a "highly encouraging sign of voter enthusiasm," particularly as there was a 115 percent spike over 2022 in newly eligible 18-year-olds registering to vote.

Recent exclusive polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 18 percent of voters say they're "more likely" or "significantly more likely" to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift.

Seventeen percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, while 55 percent would be neither more nor less likely to do so. Of all the respondents, 45 percent said they were fans of the singer, and 54 percent said they were not. Only 6 percent said they were not familiar with Swift.

The survey, which had a sample size of 1,500 eligible voters, was conducted on January 18 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.

"Taylor Swift is a force," comedian and Democratic consultant Chip Franklin previously told Newsweek. "Her presence at NFL games has been a $330 million bonanza for both the Chiefs and the NFL. Just tweeting that yesterday got 1.2 million views.

"But why? Swift's music taps into the angst and pressure young people are experiencing in this social media maelstrom, and combine that with her boyfriend—a handsome football star and pro-vax advocate—and you have an unprecedented whirlwind of cultural and political opinion."