The latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast saw brothers Jason and Travis Kelce embroiled in a heated debate over the integrity of their NFL bracket competition.

Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles center, accused Taylor Swift’s fanbase, known as the Swifties, of skewing the results in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs due to their infatuation with Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ tight end.

Jason argued that the Swifties’ voting was based more on their admiration for Travis rather than the merits of the team.

“The Swifties have this unrealistic infatuation with the Chiefs and Travis Kelce. They’re only voting based on their love for him, not on their love for the team name,” Jason, 36, expressed during Thursday morning’s podcast.

Travis, however, countered his brother’s claims, alleging that Jason had manipulated the results by involving Buffalo Bills fans, known as the Bills Mafia. “I only campaigned for teams that were underrepresented. I just wanted voter turnout,” Jason defended his actions. Travis retorted, “You literally put gasoline fluid in table pictures on the internet for Bills fans to get excited to vote for Bill’s fans.”

The controversy began when the Eagles unexpectedly lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the bracket competition. Jason attributed this outcome to the Swifties’ backlash against him, saying, “The Swifties don’t understand how politics work, so they got really accusatory of me manipulating votes, and they voted against me.”

Despite the ongoing rivalry and accusations, Jason admitted that he had already committed to a stunt for Bills fans. “I’ve already said that I’m going to jump through a flaming table. This is only accelerating the jumping through the table.”

Travis, on the other hand, took a more optimistic view, suggesting that the situation had only increased engagement with their podcast and bracket competition. “I just wanted people to know about the podcast and to know about the event so that we could have a realistic turnout.”

The fallout from Jason’s comments has yet to be fully seen, but he joked about the potential backlash, “Little does Jason know that the Swifties are going to come for him now that he’s criticized them.”

Fans are eagerly anticipating the 2024 Super Bowl this weekend in Las Vegas, where Taylor Swift is expected to support Travis as the Chiefs face off against the San Francisco 49ers following her performance in Tokyo. Whether or not the Swifties’ influence will sway any future competitions remains to be seen.