The attraction between superfan Alana (Hunter King) and Chiefs Director of Fan Engagement (Tyler Hynes) is just one of the love stories in Holiday touchdown.

Joshua Haines/Hallmark Media

Hide caption

Toggle label

Joshua Haines/Hallmark Media

Of course, when watching a Christmas romantic comedy centered around (and made in collaboration with) the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024, one has to remember one of the most hyped-up celebrity couples in recent memory: the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift of the world.

But Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Storywhich premieres Saturday night on Hallmark, is only partly a romance. It’s about a woman named Alana (Hunter King) who brings her entire family of Chiefs fanatics into the running for Fan of the Year. The team’s director of fan engagement (Tyler Hynes) is assigned as the family’s liaison to the team, and he and Alana start giving each other glowy eyes… and so on.

Even though the romance itself is mediocre, what’s most appealing about the film is its affection for Alana’s entire family and how much the Chiefs mean to them. Partnering with a real NFL team can make the movie feel like a lot. (There’s only so much Chiefs merchandise and signage you can look at before it gets depressing.) But when combined with other Kansas City details (like a cameo from the mayor), you get a broader sense that this fandom is real, even if these particular people are fictional.

Part of the film’s backstory is that Alana’s family started with the Chiefs: her mother’s family and her father’s family had season tickets next to each other, the families became friends, her parents started dating, and now it’s all one big group – still with season tickets, even though it is now in a new stadium.

Such families really exist, and that’s why many people like sports. You know this if you paid attention earlier this year when the Oakland A’s played their last game in Oakland before being torn from their community and sent to minor league stadium purgatory on the way to a permanent club home in Las Vegas. Oakland fans experience a real sense of lossand even though it’s about baseball, it’s not just about baseball. If you know any Oakland fans who were saddened by this change, there’s a good chance their devastation had something to do with someone they love or loved who also loved the A’s. Families watch games together, friends watch games together, people talk about players and changes, and it becomes more and more important to them. (Just yesterday, a friend asked me how depressed I would be if my team, the Phillies, traded Alec Bohm.)

Holiday touchdown explores the intersection of family and fandom. Above: Christine Ebersole, from left: Ed Begley Jr., Diedrich Bader, Megyn Price, Hunter King and Tyler Hynes.

Matt Hoover/Hallmark Media

Hide caption

Toggle label

Matt Hoover/Hallmark Media

In the film, Alana’s family has a superstition about a knit hat that someone must wear every Christmas to help the Chiefs win. On the one hand, it’s very silly. Then again, it’s definitely something a family of fans could do. I have been known to really stop and question whether or not I should wear a team jersey on a given day because I feel like it could be good or bad luck. Superstition is part of the deal. Silly? Secure. Real? You can bet on it.

So while I can’t justify Derrick getting into a romantic relationship with one of the fans nominated for the Fan of the Year award (that’s not what they mean by “fan engagement,” Derrick!) the idea of ​​making a holiday film about a family’s love for the fan doesn’t sit right. The home team is pretty good.

This article also appeared in NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter So you don’t miss the next one, you’ll also receive weekly recommendations about what makes us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour Apple Podcasts And Spotify.