Is Taylor Swift too big for Utah?

In early October, when Vivint Smart Home Arena teased a “big announcement” was on the horizon, Taylor Swift fans were quick to get excited.

The Salt Lake City arena had posted a picture of its marquee, all lit up in bright red, on social media. Fans were certain this referenced Swift’s album “Red,” and with a new album coming out and rumors of a 2023 summer tour — not to mention the fact that Swift had performed at the arena in 2015 — this guess wasn’t completely out of left field.

The big reveal came the next day. Swifties were undoubtedly disappointed, but the news really wasn’t bad at all: Country superstar Reba McEntire would be performing at the arena — her first Utah show in several years.

But the question remained: Would Taylor Swift be coming to Utah?

Fans got that answer a month later, when the singer-songwriter announced her “Taylor Swift The Eras Tour” for the spring and summer of 2023.

The answer was no.

Taylor Swift is performing at NFL stadiums in 2023

It’s not just Utah that got excluded.

Swift’s tour extends from mid-March through early August, and includes just 17 states. All of the large-capacity venues she’s performing at are homes to NFL teams. Swift is far from the only artist to do this — this year alone, acts like Lady Gaga, Elton John and Bad Bunny have also performed at some of these stadiums and influenced the NFL schedule, Yahoo! reported.

The capacity for many of these stadiums can be substantially expanded for concerts and other special events. Two of the biggest venues on Swift’s tour are MetLife Stadium — the home of the New York Jets and New York Giants — which seats 82,000; and the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium that is home to the Dallas Cowboys.

Both the homes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos seat around 76,000. There’s SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, which seats roughly 70,000 but can be expanded to around 100,000 for major events. Swift is performing a whopping five shows at this venue.

The singer is putting on three shows at the 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the Atlanta Falcons. She’ll also perform three shows at the home of the Houston Texans, and two shows at the home of the Seattle Seahawks, which both seat 72,000.

After that, the capacity of the remaining venues — which include the homes of the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots — all fall in the 60,000 range.

Is there a venue in Utah for Taylor Swift?

Utah may not boast an NFL team, but it does have venues that can hold a similarly sized crowd. LaVell Edwards Stadium, home of the BYU Cougars, is a plausible venue for Swift as it boasts a capacity of roughly 63,000. Similarly, the Utah Utes’ Rice-Eccles Stadium — where country legend Garth Brooks has performed three times in the past year — seats around 50,000.

There are several college football stadiums that are actually bigger than the biggest NFL stadium — the homes of the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes and LSU Tigers can all seat more than 100,000. Swift has previously performed at a few college football stadiums, including the LSU stadium and Ohio Stadium).

Maybe one day, Swift will consider taking her music on a full college football stadium tour across the country — that way, Utah fans don’t have to miss out. But considering the droves of Swift fans that showed up to the 2020 Sundance Film Festival just for a chance to see the singer for a brief moment — Swift’s attendance at the festival had been kept under wraps — you can guarantee many Utah Swifties are navigating the Ticketmaster turmoil to secure seats for her shows that are relatively close by, like the short six-hour drive from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.

If Swift won’t come to Utah, Utah will come to her.