Travis Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, have welcomed new fans of their podcast with open arms, but they aren’t straying too far from their OG “New Heights” listeners.
The siblings discussed their rise to the top of the podcast charts while speaking at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival on Thursday, June 20. “The demographic of the show has shifted,” Jason, 36, teased as the audience laughed. (While she wasn’t mentioned directly, it’s likely the panel was referring to the influence of Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, and her fans on the listenership.)
When asked whether the change has given him and Travis, 34, more “freedom” in what they talk about on the air, Jason said, “Absolutely.”
He elaborated, “I think, you know, we wanna be careful to really stay loyal to the people who have tuned in from day one. We know that a lot of the guys tuning in — and women tuning in — are diehard football fans and they want that content.”
According to Jason, “New Heights” has always had a bit of a “lifestyle” aspect along with sports analysis. “We talk about our lives,” he explained. “But now, it’s really expanding.”
The former Philadelphia Eagles center noted that the change has been “fun” because he gets to incorporate his family — wife Kylie Kelce and daughters Wyatt, 4, Ellie, 3, and Bennett, 16 months — into more episodes. He’s also loved seeing how Travis’ relationship with Swift, 34, has inspired more young girls and women to take interest in football.
Jason & Travis talking about the demographic of New Heights has changed ♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/PMzriA4xQH
— 🏈👑 (@TayvisHaze) June 20, 2024
“In some ways, you know, the show and everything that’s transpired over the past year has given reasons for girls to get involved in a sport where previously there wasn’t that much interest,” Jason continued. “All of a sudden, dads are hanging out with daughters. There’s worlds colliding, and our show gets to be another place where those worlds collide, which is awesome.”
Travis pointed out that the cohosts want their fans to be happy with each episode. “You gotta listen to your viewers,” he said. “You have to listen to the comments and your demographic and see who you’re talking to.”
A new wave of fans have fallen for the Kelce family since Travis began dating Swift last summer. Throughout the pair’s romance, Jason has stirred the pot on “New Heights,” often asking for details about the couple’s public outings and sending love to the Swifties. The duo’s love story even began on an episode of the podcast.
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” Swift told TIME Magazine in December 2023, referring to the now-infamous SeatGeek ad where Travis revealed his unsuccessful attempt to meet Swift at her Eras Tour show in Kansas City that July. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other.”
The couple went public at a Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023 and have been going strong ever since. The entire Kelce family has experienced a new level of stardom in the last year, something Jason recently discussed on the “Whiskey Ginger” podcast.
“Travis and Taylor have taken it to another level and that’s a whole other side of it,” he said earlier this month. “Like, Kylie and I think we have it bad and then we go hang out with one of them for a second. This is a whole other situation here [and] I don’t even know how to, like, you can’t be a normal person at that point.”
