In the past few years, the National Hockey League (NHL) has seen significant growth in its female and younger audience. This shift can be seen in a budding subculture on TikTok, specifically one that lies within the editing community. If you’re even remotely a sports fan, you’ve likely seen clips of your favourite athlete with a Taylor Swift or Gracie Abrams song playing in the background. It’s become commonplace on the app these days.

@behind_the_bench

Let’s cause some chaos @Andrei Svechnikov @Carolina Hurricanes #andreisvechnikov #pyotrkochetkov #carolinahurricanes #causechaos #letsgocanes #hockeyplayer #hockeytiktoks #fypツ #CapCut

♬ Espresso Sabrina Carpenter - user35873381357

@jokicprodz

LeGoat x Gracie Abrams #nba #basketball #lebron #gracieabrams #edit #fyp

♬ original sound - jokicprodz

@lvrrfour

wasnt gonna edit this week but the urge was too strong #formula1 #fyp #foryou #lewishamilton #edit #nicorosberg #sebastianvettel #noahkahan #formulaone #f1

♬ original sound - lena

In a post-Title IX world where young girls have had more opportunities to participate in sports than previous generations, the effects are evident in the successes of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Not only are women dominating in their own sports, but a significant portion of women are fans of men’s sports as well.

As recently as 2024, a study by Wasserman showed that nearly 75 per cent of women are sports fans, and according to a USA Today report, 47 per cent of the National Football League (NFL) audience are women. While the widely-reported Taylor Swift effect has been credited for introducing a female fanbase to American football, and though the singer-songwriter has an unquestionable influence, a combination of social media and marketing strategies has also contributed to this statistic.

Sports have historically been considered an exclusive ‘boys club, efforts have been made to become more inclusive to a female fan base. So what better way to draw in this audience than throwing in one of the biggest pop stars in the world? Social media managers have not shied away from asking players what their favourite Taylor Swift song is and, in doing so, creating the perfect tactic for fans to assemble edits from these interview clips.

As the online sports editing community grows, edits have gotten more and more niche. All in all, the use of Taylor Swift songs is pretty mainstream, even the Gracie Abrams and Noah Kahan features aren’t surprising, but you might not be aware of some of the storytelling and concept building that actually goes into creating these very short videos.

For instance, when Boston College hockey player Ryan Leonard left the university to join the NHL at the end of March, there promptly appeared an edit of him to Taylor Swift’s ‘loml’ with over 83k views and 16k likes a few days later. The lyrics “It was legendary / It was momentary” represent the end of an era for the BC hockey starting lineup, following the team’s elimination from national contention.

Though this song is clearly about a breakup, it has been used across fandoms to illustrate great losses of all kinds—from sports trades to season endings.

@vrooml4ndos

#BOSTONCOLLEGE the freshman line is all in the nhl now. - #bostoncollegehockey #bostoncollegeeagles #hockeyboys #nhl #collegehockey #ryanleonard #gabeperreault #willsmith #willsmithhockey #ryanleonardedit #gabeperreaultedit #willsmithedit #fyp #xyzbca #vsp

♬ original sound - chloe ⁴³

Most NHL fan edits tend to spotlight the younger players, typically ones who amassed followings from their college careers. One such edit features rookies Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard, both recent first-overall NHL draft picks. The emotional edit uses the lyrics from the song ‘We Hug Now; by Sydney Rose: “I have a feeling you got everything you wanted / And you’re not wastin’ time stuck here like me.”

@c3lebrini

#CONNORBEDARD & #MACKLINCELEBRINI | get my boy outta chicago 😭 #fyp #foryoupage #bedard #celebrini #chicagoblackhawks #sanjosesharks #hockey #puck #hockeyplayers #edit #viral #sad #nhl #hockeytiktok #willsmith #editing #98 #wehugnow

♬ original sound - ᥫ᭡⁷¹

Since entering the league, Celebrini and Bedard have been the subject of much comparison, hence the purposeful song choice about an ex-friendship in which one person was more affected than the other since separating.

Long-established players are getting edited as well. Florida Panthers’ Brad Marchand, who was a Bruins player up until March of this year, became the centrepiece of this ‘Revolving Door’ edit. The Tate McRae song is about a toxic relationship, or as implied in this case, the complex relationship between the organisation and the player, especially during trade negotiations.

Of course, you can’t mention popular edits without bringing Charli XCX’s highly celebrated BRAT album, nearly every track on that record has been used—there’s this Marchand one to ‘365’ and this edit of Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier to ‘Girl, so confusing.’

All of this goes to show that the use of mainstream songs and artists in sports edits has created a gateway for female fans to break into a male-dominated sphere, tearing down the previous frontier of the unimaginative “name five players” trope. By connecting familiar songs and feminising the space, it seems more approachable and less intimidating for other women.

It is in this way that hockey edits have also been able to humanise athletes. Suddenly, these otherwise superficial players have more depth to them, drawing in a crowd that has long been deemed “too emotional.”

Edits of male athletes to Taylor Swift’s saddest breakup songs and Radiohead’s gut-wrenching discography are direct antitheses to the idea that athletes must be detached and numb from both emotional and physical pain. These edits show that anyone can acknowledge and connect with players on a human level, making participation in sports fandom a valuable pastime in itself.