With the Super Bowl months away, speculation was building that singer Taylor Swift might be entertaining fans at the big game’s halftime show.
A recent reveal of the show’s sponsor arrived, with the announcement driving speculation that Swift would be the headlining Super Bowl Halftime Show 2023 performer.
Apple Music is the official sponsor for the halftime show, set to take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
While Apple didn’t reveal any performers for the 2023 show, many believed it would be Swift, based on the timing of things and several other clues.
Swifties, as the singer’s fans are known, began to react to the performer possibly appearing as the halftime show performer after the Apple Music announcement.
However, it doesn’t appear she will follow in the footsteps of the well-received halftime show from earlier this year. That show, at Los Angeles, California’s SoFi Stadium, featured hip-hop artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
NFL and Apple Music tease Super Bowl Halftime Show
So far, it’s confirmed that there will be a Super Bowl Halftime Show at the 2023 NFL game. A brand new sponsor also arrived as the league helped make the big announcement on Friday.
A simple reveal via Apple Music and NFL arrived on Instagram, among other social media platforms. It’s a quick video clip (below) that features the sounds of cheering fans at a stadium.
The video background is entirely black, with the words “Halftime” and” Super Bowl LVII” flashing on-screen. The clip closes after an Apple Music logo arrives on-screen.
“See you in February #SBLVII,” the IG post’s caption says.
Clues suggested Taylor Swift might be halftime performer
The clip itself didn’t reveal any specific performers. However, the timing of the announcement was believed to give away the 2023 performer.
The announcement arrived at midnight on Friday, which had some fans buzzing about the performer. As Variety reported, midnight on Fridays is a popular time for Swift to release new music, extending back to 2020.
Adding to the speculation was the fact that Swift’s next album is called Midnights. It releases on Friday, October 21, 2022, which would’ve given her more music for the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show.
Some also believed since the halftime show had a brand new sponsor in Apple Music it pointed to Swift as the performer. Pepsi sponsored last year’s show, and Swift currently has a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola, per Variety.
Swift fans reacted to SBLVII Halftime show tease
As of this writing, the Instagram post from NFL and Apple Music had tallied over 16,000 Likes and 400-plus comments. There were many commenters in favor of seeing Swift as the halftime show performer.
“Please be Taylor Swift as the halftime performer this year,” one fan wrote with several praying emojis.
Another commenter begged Apple Music to make sure Swift was the halftime performer adding “she won’t disappoint” based on how good her shows are.
“It better be @taylornation @taylorswift ???cause we are ready for it!!!!” another fan commented, tagging the singer and a fan page.
Swift won’t perform at Super Bowl halftime show
While many of Swift’s biggest fans probably wanted to see her take the stage for Super Bowl LVII, that won’t be the case. A report from TMZ on Friday indicated that they spoke to “sources with direct knowledge” that said Swift isn’t going to perform at the 2023 show.
Swift has yet to publicly comment or react to the Super Bowl announcement or the social media frenzy. Based on comments, plenty of fans were hoping to see her perform.
The 11-time Grammy winner has never performed at the NFL’s big event. Previous pop superstars to headline the halftime show include Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and The Weeknd.
Super Bowl LVII arrives on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at 6:30/5:30c on FOX.