A romance with the Kansas City Chiefs takes center stage when Hallmark Channel’s Holiday Touchdown: A Love Story for the Chiefs premieres this weekend.
One of Hallmark’s tentpole movies this season, Holiday touchdown follows a Chiefs superfan (played by Hunter King) and the team’s director of fan engagement (Hallmark staple Tyler Hynes) as they gradually fall in love over Christmas. (Don’t expect much resemblance to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s real-life romance, though. Head over to Lifetime for that.) The TV movie, which premieres Nov. 30 and is produced by Skydance Sports, marks the first official collaboration between Hallmark and the NFL.
Filmed on location in Kansas City over two weeks in July, including several days at Arrowhead Stadium, Holiday touchdown is the ultimate Chiefs fan’s dream, with cameos from head coach Andy Reid; players Mecole Hardman Jr., Trey Smith, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and George Karlaftis; and Donna Kelce, Travis’ mother, who plays a supporting character.
But why should Hallmark, the perennial destination for romance, be put on the same playing field as the NFL, which despite increased interest from women still attracts significantly more male viewers? The crossover potential is reflected in the numbers. More than half of Hallmark’s viewers also watch sports during the holidays, and according to Variety, 24% of the audience during that time was male.
“Whether it’s the Swifties, whether it’s Chiefs Kingdom, whether it’s Hallmark’s Hallmarkies, they all have something in common,” Hynes told Yahoo Entertainment. It’s their shared passion for their fandoms. ‘There is [also] a seriousness that seems unique and authentic, and combining it in the way we did feels like an opportunity to include everyone.
Holiday touchdown This isn’t the first time the Chiefs have dipped their toe into the Hallmark well. In January (a few months after Taylor and Travis went public), the team produced a fake romantic movie trailer, Falling for footballwith Hynes and Janel Parrish being recruited to add a Hallmark touch. It was initially intended as a one-off to kick-start the Chiefs’ playoff run, but instead whetted the appetite for more.
“When we think [about] entertainment, sports and culture, I’m not sure there’s a separation anymore, which is really great to see for fans and consumers,” Lara Krug, vice president and chief marketing officer of the Kansas City Chiefs, told Television Critics Association press trip in July.
“What we did in the build-up around the play-offs [the] trailer, it was in some ways a love story for Hallmark from the Chiefs about what they do so well telling these wonderful stories. It’s exciting to see things come full circle,” she said.
That trailer parody, which Hallmark saw and immediately responded to, ultimately accelerated the Hallmark-NFL partnership. “From the moment we really sat down and started talking about what this could be, we immediately knew there was a huge opportunity to create something really special and magical here,” said Samantha DiPippo, senior vice president of programming at Hallmark Media, at the TCA press tour.
A marriage between the two major brands to be made Holiday touchdown to feel as cohesive and seamless as possible was a joint team effort, which included plenty of late-night writing on Kansas City-specific details, Krug noted.
Written by Hallmark writer (and San Francisco 49ers fan) Julie Sherman Wolfe, the film weaves light Chiefs lore into the story and leans on game-day superstitions involving a family’s vintage Lucky Chiefs hat. Any other sporting jargon or football terminology is kept to a minimum. After all, a love story is the core of the film.
“I was so happy that they chose the type of story they were going to do,” Hynes said. “It is a very beautiful, well-founded story that feels like it serves all target groups.”
It was during Hynes’ daily meetings with fans in and around Kansas City during filming when he felt the excitement surrounding the film.
“There are a lot of Hallmark fans who are big Chiefs fans and a lot of Hallmark fans who are big football fans, so it’s fascinating,” the Canadian actor said. “Both brands are at the same place in the culture and in the world, and have a huge crossover audience.”
“It’s an interesting cocktail,” Hynes said. “No one has ever done this science experiment before, so we’ll see what the results are.”
Holiday Touchdown: A Love Story for the Chiefs premieres Saturday, November 30 at 8pm ET on Hallmark Channel.
