Rising up, Travis Kelce visited Cedar Level amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, at the least a couple of times a yr along with his household.
Though Cedar Level is called the “curler coaster capital of the world,” the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish, 36, admitted on his New Heights podcast that he was too scared to trip any of them. Later, as a school scholar on the College of Cincinnati, he conquered his concern — and by no means regarded again. He known as the Raptor his favourite.
Fueled by glad reminiscences there, Kelce proved he’s an enormous child at coronary heart when he introduced on Oct. 21 that he’s an investor in Cedar Level’s mum or dad firm, Six Flags, which has parks throughout North America. The NFL star stated he “couldn’t go up the chance to proceed the custom” in addition to make it even higher “for the following era of households” — presumably even his personal, based on fiancée Taylor Swift’s “Wishlist.”
Kelce invested by New York–primarily based hedge fund Jana Companions, which holds a couple of 9% curiosity, or roughly $200 million, within the theme park operator, based on the Wall Avenue Journal. The New Heights Instagram account joked — we predict — {that a} “Kelce Coaster” was coming quickly.
That is the newest instance of Kelce’s drive to develop his enterprise ventures past the NFL, the place he’s nonetheless dominating on the sector with the Chiefs. In September, he opened 1587 Prime, a buzzy Kansas Metropolis steakhouse co-owned with teammate Patrick Mahomes that’s grow to be one of many hardest tables to e book on the town. The identical month, Storage Beer, a beer model that’s owned by Kelce and his podcast associate and brother, Jason Kelce, secured funding to increase nationally. Past meals, drink and curler coasters, the sports activities star has additionally been making strikes in leisure, taking up appearing and internet hosting roles along with his podcast duties.
It’s all a part of the fashionable celeb playbook: leveraging fame to construct a broader empire — a shift that monetary professional Nicole Lapin says Kelce exemplifies.
“Kelce isn’t simply diversifying; he’s operationalizing his private model like a contemporary holding firm,” the Cash Rehab podcast host tells Yahoo.
By mixing life-style, leisure and private branding, Kelce is making a universe the place followers don’t simply watch him play — they step inside his world, from his podcast to his restaurant, and now even a theme park.
How Kelce makes, spends and invests his cash
Whereas his bride-to-be is a billionaire, Kelce has a internet price of $70 million, Forbes reported in August.
Over the previous 12 years, he has earned an estimated $111 million taking part in skilled soccer, earlier than taxes and agent charges. He has doubtless introduced in one other $80 million off the sector, together with a three-year, $100 million deal he and his brother struck with Wondery in 2024 for New Heights.
The podcast, which pulls high-profile visitors, provides followers a window into Kelce’s life. Extra lately, it highlighted his relationship with Swift, who appeared on the present’s highest-viewed episode to tease her Lifetime of a Showgirl album in August. After they recorded it, Kelce proposed, completely blurring the traces between life and enterprise.
Kelce has additionally secured endorsement offers with Bud Gentle, Pfizer and Nike, began a sportswear model known as Tru Kolors and created a complement line, Hilo Gummies, which a personal fairness agency later acquired. In leisure, he hosts Amazon Prime’s Are You Smarter Than a Celeb?, made a cameo in Completely satisfied Gilmore 2 and appeared in FX’s Grotesquerie.
His life-style displays his earnings: He lives in a $6 million mansion close to Arrowhead Stadium, the place he has a fleet of fancy automobiles, like a $400,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom. He reportedly spent much more on Swift’s ring, which is estimated to be price between $500,000 and $1 million.
Kelce stepping out of his $400,000 trip. (Jamie Squire/Getty Photos)
Guiding his model and monetary strikes are his enterprise managers, André and Aaron Eanes of three Arts Sports activities. In line with a New York Occasions article from final yr, the brothers, who met Kelce in school, got down to make the star “as well-known because the Rock,” referring to Dwayne Johnson, who has grow to be a massively profitable entrepreneur in his personal proper. On the time, André was overseeing Kelce’s portfolio of 28 ventures, which additionally included a racing group (Alpine Components 1), an alcoholic seltzer (Casa Azul Tequila Soda) and a males’s customized clothes line (Indochino).
Now, Six Flags and 1587 Prime have been added to the fold. The previous is a nostalgic funding, with Kelce sharing childhood movies of himself on the park along with his mother, Donna, alongside the announcement. Six Flags can also be a firm needing a lift, having grappled with low customer numbers and debt in recent times. Kelce’s involvement is already making waves: Six Flags inventory jumped practically 18% the day his involvement was publicized.
A clip of New Heights posted on Instagram on Thursday noticed the Kelce brothers speaking about taping their podcast at Cedar Level, in between a marathon curler coaster session.
A restaurant is a extra typical celebrity-backed enterprise — however 1587 Prime stands out as a high-end eatery that showcases Kelce’s life-style. From $345 Wagyu Tomahawk steaks to a cocktail named “the Alchemy,” impressed by a Swift music, the eatery provides followers a style of the world he inhabits. The couple dined there collectively on Oct. 19, and the demand to comply with of their footsteps is intense. When reservations opened in August, a month earlier than the restaurant opened, tables had been totally booked by late October inside minutes, based on Enterprise Insider.
The brand new playbook is ‘Kelce meets Kardashian’
Kelce’s portfolio isn’t only a reflection of his wealth. It’s a blueprint for the fashionable celeb.
“What I discover fascinating is how he’s constructing one thing that sits between athlete and life-style mogul,” Lapin says. “It’s not simply endorsements anymore; it’s vertical integration of identification.”
In different phrases, each side of Kelce’s profession — from soccer to enterprise ventures to public picture — is orchestrated as a unified model. On the coronary heart of this technique is viewers engagement: turning fan curiosity into real-world ventures.
“While you open a steakhouse or [invest in] an amusement park, you’re monetizing the emotional fairness folks really feel towards you,” Lapin says. “That’s the following evolution of private branding — turning viewers affinity into tangible belongings.”
When followers eat at Kelce’s restaurant or go to Cedar Level, they’re not simply shoppers, an professional explains. They’re a part of the “Travis Kelce universe.” (David Eulitt/Getty Photos)
In contrast to athletes of the previous who constructed wealth after retiring, Kelce is doing it in actual time.
“The playbook was once Jordan or Shaq,” Lapin says. “Now it’s Kelce meets Kardashian. [It’s about] real-time monetization, narrative management and emotional stickiness.”
Kelce can also be “constructing one thing that blurs the road between model and belonging,” Lapin says.
“When followers eat at his restaurant or go to his park, they’re not simply shoppers, they’re contributors within the Travis Kelce universe,” she says. “It’s parasocial commerce. The product isn’t the steak or the trip — it’s proximity. And that proximity, when managed appropriately, could be price greater than any Tremendous Bowl ring.”
