ESPN Announcers Facing Blowback For Their Treatment Of Taylor Swift

ESPN's announcers are facing blowback for how they referred to Taylor Swift on Saturday evening.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals took place on Saturday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers, down 2-0, hosted the New York Knicks in Ohio. Travis Kelce, who grew up in Ohio and roots for the Cavs, attended the game, sitting courtside with his very famous fiancee, Taylor Swift.

The Cavs lost the game, as the Knicks took a commanding 3-0 series lead heading into Game 4. Swift and Kelce arrived to their seats right before tipoff on Saturday evening. ESPN's announcers made a note of it.

ESPN announcer Mike Breen said: ""Travis Kelce and his fiancée here at the game."

Richard Jefferson added: "As Travis and his girlfriend are in the building, that's always great to see."

Some are not happy about that.

Fans take issue with what ESPN called Taylor Swift

Some fans took issue with the comments.

"I'm a sports fan, not a pop music fan, but I certainly noticed this and thought it was weird. Wonder what the deal is..." one wrote.

"I get it. At the same time, ehhh…cringe. Trying too hard," one fan added.

"Was the phrasing intentional? She's obviously a million times more famous than him," another added.

"Acting like Travis is the biggest name in that building ☠️," one fan added.

"Why do sports fans act as if Taylor is gonna take their lil games away from them? What's with all these insecurities?" one fan added.

"What the… 🤣🤣 this is bizarre," one fan added.

What do you make of how ESPN chose to refer to Taylor Swift during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night?

Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 8:23 AM.