Caitlin Clark reveals Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s WNBA promise as star is named TIME Athlete of the Year

Caitlin Clark has lifted the lid on Taylor Swift‘s generosity amid her meteoric rise to fame in the WNBA and women’s college basketball this year.

Clark, a renowned fan of the pop sensation, was named TIME’s Athlete of the Year for 2024 on Tuesday following a stellar debut season in the pro league.

And the Indiana Fever star opened up on her relationship with the songstress, who was crowned TIME Person of the Year in 2023, in her winning interview with the magazine.

The 22-year-old revealed that the 14-time Grammy Award winner and boyfriend Travis Kelce were keen to hop on the WNBA bandwagon once their chaotic schedules eased off.

Swift wrote Clark a handwritten note, telling her that ‘”Trav and I” were excited to go to a Fever game now that the tour was winding down and invited Clark to attend a Chiefs game,’ TIME reported.

Clark additionally revealed that she received a personalized gift from the ‘Fortnight’ singer, who wrapped up her historic Eras Tour at the weekend.

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WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark was names TIME Magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year

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The Indiana Fever guard lifted the lid on a handwritten note from Taylor Swift in the interview

‘The end of an era’: Swift sings final surprise songs of Eras Tour

Swift reportedly gave Clark four bags of merchandise from the $2billion global tour, along with the note that hailed the basketball star as ‘inspiring to watch from afar.’

Clark has made no secret of her Swiftie fandom, attending back-to-back Eras Tour shows at Lucas Oil Stadium – home of the Indianapolis Colts – earlier this year.

She was spotted exchanging friendship bracelets with Swifties – so many in fact that it cut off her circulation.

‘I had a ton, all the way up the arm. I had to take them off. My circulation was getting cut off,’ Clark said at the Women’s Leadership Summit at the Pelican Golf Club in Tampa, Florida, ahead of the LPGA’s Annnika tournament. 

‘Everyone was just chucking their bracelets at me,’ she added.

Not only is Clark a fan of Swift but she’s also a lifelong supporter of the Kansas City Chiefs – the NFL team that the pop star’ boyfriend, Kelce, plays for.

While she’s the biggest star in basketball at present, she has never shied away from how much she loves the Chiefs.

Last season, Clark joined Peyton and Eli Manning’s ‘Manningcast’ for the Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles game where she opened up on her fandom.

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The popstar said that she and boyfriend Travis Kelce were excited to attend a Fever game

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Clark was pictured exchanging friendship bracelets with fans during an Eras Tour show

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The 22-year-old attended back-to-back Eras Tour concerts in Indianapolis in November

‘I’ve been a Chiefs fan since I was a young girl,’ she said. ‘My brother was a Chiefs fan, my dad was a Chiefs fan, I had cousins in Kansas City that were Chiefs fans. I love it.’

Peyton then asked Clark how she became a Chiefs fan from growing up in Iowa.

‘Honestly, it was just something, all I knew,’ she said. ‘In our basement we had a Chiefs vending machine, we had toy Chiefs helmets and I’d run around and knock helmets with my brothers.

‘I had a lot of cousins in Kansas City who loved the Chiefs. It would be like a yearly thing that we would go down there and watch a Chiefs game.

‘I’m not a bandwagon Chiefs fan, I was a Chiefs fan even when they weren’t very good!’

Clark had the opportunity to cross paths with the three-time Super Bowl winner at one of Swift’s Indianapolis shows in November.

She was into the show, for sure,’ the tight end said about meeting Clark. ‘She’s a Swiftie through and through.

‘I think she’s just having fun, going and taking her friends and family and getting everyone to experience Tay up there on stage, making the entire 70,000 people go f*****g nuts for three and a half hours.’

Clark, who liked also liked Swift’s endorsement of presidential candidate Kamala Harris earlier this year, enjoyed a record-breaking rookie campaign in the WNBA after helping the Indiana Fever reach the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

She and the Fever will kickstart their 2025 WNBA season on May 17 with a showdown against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky – with maybe Swift and Kelce in attendance.