Social Media Users Think NFL Is Trying to Make Swifties Pay for Peacock

The Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins will face off in the first round of the playoffs, and unless fans have a subscription to the streaming service (or they have a less than legal method of doing so), they won't be able to watch it. Peacock paid handsomely for the rights to an exclusive playoff game, and the service got the best possible option: A game involving Patrick Mahomes, and the potential for some crowd shots of Kelce's world famous girlfriend, .

The pairing has benefits for both sides. Peacock gets a captive audience of Swifties hoping for glimpses of their . The NFL, meanwhile, might be airing one of its lesser games this weekend: The Dolphins are banged up, and the Chiefs have played a lot of playoff games. There are certainly more compelling first round matchups.

NFL fans, however, are less than pleased about the NFL's lucrative arrangement. "On Saturday night there is going to be a meltdown on various social media, when the world realizes that the Chiefs v Dolphins playoff game will only be broadcast on Peacock, the streaming service absolutely no one has or wants," user JasonKPargin wrote on X, formerly .

reached out to Peacock by email requesting comment. "I'm not sure if it was the NFL or Peacock that chose to put the Chiefs in that slot, but paywalling the Swifties is a ruthlessly savvy marketing move," user JaredLeeSmith added. "The NFL knew EXACTLY what they were doing putting the Chiefs on Peacock.

They know the Swifties will pay for the service just to see her which is more money in their pocket. I just hate how they make everything streaming to the point you have to pay extra even though you have TV," user Stan_Logan1996 wrote. "Paying for Peacock just to see those Chiefs WRs drop the ball is nasty tbh," user Less_HumbleTeej noted.

"First they were flexed off MNF, now this. Incredible to think we've gotten to this point with the champs," user MitchMossRadio wrote. There was some good news for fans of the Chiefs and Dolphins who live in the Kansas City and Miami markets: Locally, the game will still be on network TV.

Fans of either popular franchise elsewhere are out of luck. This isn't the NFL's first experiment with an exclusive streaming option. Peacock broadcasted a game earlier this year, drawing 7.8 million viewers to a Dec. 23 contest between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers, which featured a commercial free fourth quarter.

Of course, there's one way to bypass streaming or network TV for fans hoping to watch the game, but it costs quite a bit more than the monthly fee for Peacock: Buy tickets and attend the game at Arrowhead Stadium. "I am so anti Peacock I'm going to go spend 7 hours outside in 0° weather rather than pay for it to watch the Chiefs play," user JoshChavis wrote on X.

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