Travis Kelce has won his fair share of trophies and is now helping others achieve their own victories.
Super Bowl champion tight end for Kansas City Chiefs will host new game show series Are you smarter than a celebrity? for Prime Video.
In a twist, the spinoff of the popular Fox game show Are you smarter than a 5th grader?will feature adult contestants who will rely on a “classroom” full of famous faces to help them answer 11 questions on a variety of topics.
Based on the elementary school curriculum, contestants will aim to win a prize of $100,000. The final question will always be at the sixth grade level.
“I grew up loving game shows,” said Kelce Prime Video in statement. “And I’m excited to follow in the footsteps of so many TV icons by hosting my first with Are you smarter than a celebrity?”
Amazon has ordered 20 episodes of the show led by Kelce, who played a key role in February’s Super Bowl LVIII victory with the Chiefs. The popular football player raised his profile further in 2023 when he began dating pop star Taylor Swift and launched a high-profile sports podcast, New heightswith his older brother, Jason Kelce.
“Athletes already have a huge amount of social capital and social appeal inherently because they play a sport,” Parker Graham, who played Division I football at Oklahoma State University and went on to play for the Baltimore Ravens, told Yahoo Entertainment. Graham recently co-founded Vestible, an investment platform that helps athletes monetize their brand.
“Travis is a great example of that. He’s a guy who’s about 6’5”, he’s been playing in the league forever, he’s won Super Bowls. He’s dating, you know, probably the most famous musician at the moment. And with that star power and with that social capital, there are a lot of brands that benefit from teaming up with someone like that on game shows and TV shows.”
That being said, Kelce isn’t the only player who has taken his talent to the stage.
Michael Strahan Presents ‘The $100,000 Pyramid’
ABC brought back old school game shows The $100,000 Pyramid with host Michael Strahan in 2016. It was first created in 1973.
It’s a timeless word association game where two contestants each find a celebrity partner and face off in a race against the clock to reach the winner’s circle and take home the $100,000 prize.
Before co-anchoring Good Morning America and co-hosting Live with Kelly and Michael, Strahan was a hard-hitting force in the NFL, playing defensive end for the New York Giants. He is still co-owner of single season record for most sacks by a quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers’ Time on ‘Jeopardy!’
Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets quarterback who previously spent his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, was the guest host Danger! for two weeks in 2021. He was even seriously considered to replace the late Alex Trebek as host.
“Aaron Rodgers was definitely the most prepared,” Mike Richards, the former game show producer turned host who was fired a day later, said in an interview.
“I was impressed by that – the intensity with which he prepared – and he was so kind to everyone on the team,” he said.
Richards recalled a conversation they had.
“I was like, ‘How are you going to work this out with the football schedule?’” Richards asked Rodgers. “He said, ‘You’ll find out!’”
Dwyane Wade Presents ‘The Cube’
He’s a three-time NBA champion, one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players of all time, and now the guy among competitors locked in a glass box and some cash.
Dwyane Wade is the host of TBS’ “high-octane competition series” The cube, adapted in America from the British version. The game show, according to TBS, follows “pairs of contestants who must demonstrate skill, courage and determination as they face seemingly simple physical and mental tasks — all while confined within ‘The Cube,’ an intimidating glass box with a mind and attitude own. ”
Each pair, which can work alone or as a team, has nine lives to complete seven games. The amount of money increases as they get closer to taking home a $250,000 jackpot.
Wade initially signed on as the show’s executive producer through his company 59th & Prairie Entertainment and later was invited to also host.
Similar to the other two game shows, celebrities also appeared, including his wife, actress Gabrielle Union; TV Personality La La Anthony; and former NBA teammate Shaquille O’Neal.
Why are athletes turning into game show hosts?
“Athletes are trained to talk to people in short clips, stay calm in difficult situations, answer questions with composure, smile when necessary, speak to be understood,” said Candy Lee, a professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
“They understand camera positions, filming and popularity among fans. They are also used to weekly shows that are reasonably repetitive and can be filmed over the course of a season,” she added.
Greg Linnelli, a sports radio host who also works in public relations, said professional athletes “regularly perform in front of thousands of people,” which already exposes them to all types of media.
“Being able to interact with the media, whether print or on-air, puts them in a position where they constantly express their opinions and regularly interact with others,” Linnelli told Yahoo Entertainment.
“This allows them to feel comfortable in these environments, which helps them in other non-football related opportunities. It also helps them think on their feet and at the same time feel comfortable in that environment,” he added.
Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in February to win the Super Bowl.
Since then, he has strived to expand his business efforts into different areas. He is producing the documentary King Pleasure, which is about the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
And although he was recently seen performing with Swift at Coachella, he created your own music festival called Kelce Jam, which will take place on April 28th at his home in Kansas City, Mo. Machine Gun Kelly and Rick Ross will perform at the event.
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