Taylor Swift is the first woman the NFL has ever prioritized. And it’s nothing worth celebrating

The NFL doesn’t care about Taylor Swift — or women. Like most men, the NFL only cares about what Taylor Swift — and women — can do for them.

And right now, Taylor Swift is good for business.

When the pop singer showed up at Arrowhead Stadium, fans couldn’t get enough. And when she brought her celebrity friends along with her to MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, the NFL was ready to milk its latest cash cow.

Yes, I’m aware of how wrong that last metaphor feels in this context. But, you need to understand how this league operates and treats women. An uncomfortable figure of speech is needed to paint the picture that so many want to ignore.

This is a league that has a long history of employing men who do bad things to women. This is a league that once fined DeAngelo Williams $5,787 because he wore a “Find The Cure” eye black after the NFL knew he lost his mother and four aunts to breast cancer. This is a league that’s never had a majority female owner, general manager, or team president. This is a league that has a few women working on coaching staffs, but more than likely will never allow one to be a coordinator or a head coach. If men — Black ones — get screwed over when it comes to coaching positions, it’s definitely going to be worse for women.

But, despite all that, women and girls reportedly make up around 46 percent of the NFL’s fan base — which translates to about 84 million female fans in this country.

And now you know why the camera kept panning to Swift on Sunday night.

According to NBC, because of Swift, the Kansas City Chiefs’ “Sunday Night Football” win over the New York Jets was the most watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl in February. The game drew an average audience of 27 million viewers and peaked at 29.4 million. And when it comes to reaching a “broader female audience,” the numbers show that the game drew an additional two million female viewers.

It all sounds so sweet, until you remember that the league is being investigated by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as they issued subpoenas in both states due to allegations of hostile workplace discrimination at the NFL for racial stuff, age bias….and sexual harassment.

“No person should ever have to endure harassment, discrimination, or objectification in the workplace,” James said in a statement. The report went on to say that Bonta and James have “serious concerns about the NFL’s role in creating an extremely hostile and detrimental work environment.”

I don’t know or care to know about Taylor Swift’s music or personal life. But, what I do know is that the NFL is looking at this from a purely selfish angle, figuring out ways in which they can benefit from her presence. This momentary “partnership” is all business for them, and they’ll keep her around as long as they can have her. I just hope she understands what’s going on, and gets more out of them than what they plan to get out of her.