Japan Embassy confirms Taylor Swift can make it to the Super Bowl on time

Taylor Swift fans aren’t sure how, and if, she will be attending this year’s Super Bowl, but they are hopeful.

On Sunday 28 January, the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC championship against the Baltimore Ravens, which means the team will now compete against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on 11 February. Throughout the NFL season, Swift has attended 12 of the Chiefs games to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, but there are some roadblocks for her to attend this game.

The Grammy winner has been able to show up to every Chiefs game during the last month of the regular football season, including the playoffs, because there was a break during the international leg of her Eras Tour. However, that tour is scheduled to start back up again on 7 February, when she will be performing in Tokyo, Japan, until 10 February.

Even the Embassy of Japan has issued a statement regrading her travel plans, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm she will be able to make the trip.

“The Embassy of Japan in the United States is aware of recent media reports concerning the steps Taylor Swift will need to take to travel from Tokyo after her concert on 10 February to Las Vegas in time to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play in Super Bowl LVIII,” the statement began.

“Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the Embassy can confidently ‘Speak Now’ to say if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins.”

The statement continued: “We know that many people in Japan are excited to experience Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, so we wanted to confirm that anyone concerned can be ‘Fearless’ in knowing that this talented performer can wow Japanese audiences and still make it to Las Vegas to support the Chiefs when they take the field for the Super Bowl wearing ‘Red.’”

Although the singer has not confirmed whether or not she will be in attendance at the Super Bowl, there are reports claiming that she will be and she’ll get there with the help of time zones.

Kickoff for the big game will be at 6.30 pm ET and Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Las Vegas. The assumption is that she will be leaving Japan at around midnight and then arriving in Las Vegas for the football game at around 8 to 10pm on Saturday, with a little less than 24 hours before the game starts.

Many of the singer’s fans have taken to X to do the math on whether or not the timing of the flight is possible for Swift to make it to the Super Bowl.

“Taylor Swift performs in Japan the night before the Super Bowl. It will end around 10pm Tokyo time (5am Las Vegas time),” one tweet read. “The flight from Tokyo to Vegas takes 12 hours, meaning Swift can arrive at 5pm local on the day before the Super Bowl, 25 hours, 35 mins before kickoff.”

“If Taylor Swift goes to the Super Bowl, she will have to fly from Tokyo, Japan, having completed her last show there on Feb 10th.  Assuming she leaves Tokyo at 12am local time, she would arrive in Las Vegas around 5.30pm, about an hour before game time. That’s a long haul,” another post read.

“Can Taylor Swift make the Super Bowl from her Tokyo concert? A West Wing episode from 2001 already answered this,” a third tweet joked.

Even airlines have jumped in on the Swift and Kelce relationship, with United Airlines announcing direct flights between Kansas City, Missouri, and Las Vegas for the game — and each one carries a special flight number created in honour of the couple.

The flights are: UA 1989, after the singer’s 2014 album and 2023 re-recorded album, UA 2287 after the Swift song “22” and Kelce’s jersey number 87, and UA 1587, which combines the Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ jersey number with Kelce’s.

United has also created unique names for fans rooting for the 49ers. UA 1995 is in honour of the last year the team has won a Super Bowl, and UA 1849 after the team’s name that celebrates the Gold Rush.

American Airlines has also added a 1989 flight number from Kansas City to Vegas meant to celebrate the singer with a return flight number 87.

Swift and Kelce delighted fans on Sunday when they embraced on the field after the Chiefs win. The public display of affection marked the first time that Swift has joined the football player on the field this season.

The Super Bowl will be available to watch on CBS or it can be streamed live on Paramount+.