‘Taylor Swift effect’ brings Kansas City dads and daughters together

By Chandler Watkins

Click here for updates on this story

    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — Michael Nigro says it’s been one of the best Chiefs seasons for him and his family.

“We get the whole family here on Sunday,” said Nigro. “It’s usually my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law, with the kids sprinkled here and there depending on the situation. What transpired this year, with the ‘Taylor effect’, these kids went from watching games here and there to watching every single game with their gear on. It’s full on, Chiefs all day.”

Family members were already big Swifties according to Nigro, who first heard of Swift back in 2006.

“I was in Marine Corps boot camp and my mom would write me letters,” said Nigro. “She knew I was a big country fan so she would send me letters with any new country songs that were big hits. I have one from October 12, 2006. This letter literally had the lyrics to Tim McGraw, which I think was her single she released in June of that year.”

When they discovered Swift was bringing the Eras Tour to Kansas City, they purchased tickets, surprising the girls on Christmas.

“We got Taylor Swift shirts last that said, ‘It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me’ and they told us we were going to the concert,” said Michaela Nigro.

“It’s super exciting to watch the Chiefs games and the concert,” said Haley Nigro. “I’m really happy we got to do that.”

In the months leading up to the concert, Nigro said the family all practiced lyrics to all of Swift’s songs, as well as the chants, and made friendship bracelets to pass out to others.

“We would go down to the Lake of the Ozarks before the concert and we would practice the Cool Summer bridge together,” said Nigro. “I would be the only one messing it up and they would be drilling me making sure I get it right, so we had a good time bonding then. When we got our shot to do the Cruel Summer bridge, we went at it. You knew right when the show started, you could just tell it was something different. This wasn’t just a concert; this was an experience.”

Nigro posted a video of them singing along to Cruel Summer to TikTok and it went viral, garnering more than one million views. He says a Taylor Swift fan account reposted it and that got around ten million views.

Cetaphil, which had an ad air during the Super Bowl highlighting the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ sent the family a care package after seeing their viral video.

Nigro says he thought the commercial was great. He adds he will cherish all the memories he and his family have made over the last year.

“This last year honestly has been one of the more fun years watching the Chiefs,” said Nigro. “Having the girls with us and so involved really adds another dynamic to it. Being involved with them, going to the concert and doing everything they love made me a better dad and hopefully they enjoyed the experience as much as I did. You truly appreciate all that looking back. It was a great year. You can see in the TikTok video I got pretty emotional at the end of it and that had a lot to do with it.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.