Hallmark Channel draws on its Kansas City roots – and the famous romance between music star Taylor Swift and footballer Travis Kelce – to score during the lucrative Christmas TV movie season.
For more than a decade, viewers have embraced the cable channel “Countdown to Christmas” themed programming – dozens of low-cost movies that begin streaming in mid-October and are shown virtually around the clock. On Saturday, Hallmark bolsters its programming with “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” – one of two cable TV movies launching this season inspired by Swift and Kelce’s relationship.
In the Hallmark Channel movie, Hunter King plays a young woman who tries to help her family win the Kansas City Chiefs “Fan of the Year” contest. She meets a team official, played by Tyler Hynes, who is responsible for evaluating the competitors. Taking a cue from the Hallmark storyline, the two soon experience warm and fuzzy feelings.
“Holiday Touchdown” is a partnership between Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs, so the film also taps into the real-life phenomenon of multigenerational relationships bonded by a shared love of the Chiefs.
The film was filmed last summer in the Kansas City area, including at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Hallmark, the card company, has long called Kansas City home.
“We are extremely grateful to the entire Hallmark team and the unique partnership that has been created around our two brands and this film,” Mark Donovan, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, said in a statement announcing the partnership in September .
Hallmark Media, which manages its television portfolio, is based in Studio City.
The film is draped in red and gold and includes cameos from Chiefs players and head coach Andy Reid. There’s also a small role for Donna Kelce, the footballer’s mother, who has become a celebrity herself. On Friday, she was photographed alongside Swift as the two headed to Arrowhead Stadium to watch the dominant NFL team beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
The film also features Jenna Bush Hager, Diedrich Bader, Megyn Price, Richard Riehle, Christine Ebersole and Richard Christy.
Made-for-TV holiday movies have become one of the industry’s most reliable and cost-effective commodities.
Several networks, including Hallmark and Lifetime, produce dozens of holiday-themed films each year to join such beloved evergreens as “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Home Alone” and “A Christmas Story” that air in syndication.
Hallmark’s other holiday-themed films include “A ’90s Christmas,” “Sugarplummed,” “Following Yonder Star” and “Happy Howlidays.”
Last week, competitor Lifetime launched its holiday offering loosely based on the Swift-Kelce romance. “Christmas in the Spotlight” stars Jessica Lord as a pop star who falls in love with a football player played by Laith Wallschleger after they meet backstage at one of his concerts.
