Get to know the three-time Super Bowl champion – and how he makes and spends his millions.

Travis Kelce’s NFL career

Travis Kelce is known as one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. At 6ft 5 (195cm) and 250 pounds (113kg), Kelce has been an impact player since his early days in the league. After a successful but somewhat tumultuous college university with the Cincinnati Bearcats, Kelce slipped to the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, where the Chiefs were waiting with the 63rd overall pick.

Kelce’s star kept rising from there. In 2016, the blossoming tight end recorded his first season with over 1,000 receiving yards; his 1,125-yard total was a league-high for players at his position that season.

But it was the introduction of Patrick Mahomes – a generational quarterback with a remarkable connection to Kelce – to the Chiefs that brought the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native from great to indomitable.

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Kelce is one of four tight ends in NFL history with 10,000 or more receiving yards, per StatMuse – but perhaps, most notably, Kelce has won three Super Bowls and contributed significantly to the dynasty the franchise has built in Kansas City.

His contracts and signing bonuses

During his 11-year career, Kelce has earned tens of millions of dollars in the NFL. Like most rookies in the NFL – aside from those drafted in the first round – Kelce began his professional football career with a relatively humble salary. He received a four-year, US$3.12 million rookie contract with a US$703,304 signing bonus, per Sportrac.

But in 2016, after proving himself over his first few seasons with the Chiefs, Kelce signed a massive contract extension to stay in Kansas City. He earned US$46.8 million for five years – plus a US$10 million signing bonus – to average nearly eight figures in annual salary.

Those numbers ballooned come 2020, when he agreed to a four-year contract worth US$57.2 million, or US$14.3 million per year.

And now, Kelce’s signed a two-year contract extension worth US$34.25 million – to make him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.

His endorsement deals

Kelce also has a number of lucrative endorsement deals. With remarkable abilities on the gridiron and a bright and goofy disposition, Kelce has been an attractive candidate for endorsements with a wide variety of companies. He’s signed deals with Dick’s Sporting Goods, LG, McDonald’s, Nike, Old Spice, Papa John’s, Pfizer, State Farm and more.

In all, Kelce is thought to have made US$5 million per year from these sponsors, according to a 2023 estimate from Profluence’s Andrew Petcash.

His own clothing brand and podcast

Following the advice of Warren Buffett, Kelce has bought into what he knows. Some of his investments include Cholula, a hot sauce brand; Hydrow, a rowing machine company; Indochino, a men’s fashion house; RealTruck, a truck accessory company; and ThePlayersTV, an athlete-owned media network.

Some of those moves have paid off in major ways, such as when McCormick bought Cholula for US$800 million in 2020.

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But the tight end didn’t stop there; he dove into business ownership, too. A fashion enthusiast, Kelce started his own clothing brand called Tru Kolors in 2019. He also helped launch Hilo Nutrition, a brand that sells gummies promising various health benefits, as its “chief of performance” in 2019.

Additionally, Kelce co-owns Club Car Wash and founded a music festival called Kelce Jam. And he and his older brother, Jason, co-host the incredibly popular New Heights podcast, which won a 2024 Webby Award and brings in millions in annual revenue.

As of autumn 2023, Kelce’s estimated net worth had grown to US$40 million, Forbes reported.

His entertainment portfolio

Kelce is also building an impressive portfolio in entertainment, with new gigs in hosting and executive producing.

In April, The Guardian reported that Kelce will host Amazon Prime Video’s newest game show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, a spin-off of Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Kelce isn’t stopping at the small screen. He’s making moves in movies, too, as executive producer of upcoming war dramedy My Dead Friend Zoe, which premiered at the SXSW festival in March.

His lucrative romance

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Her appearance also increased the Chiefs’ fandom, with TV viewership soaring and Kelce’s jersey sales increasing by nearly 400 per cent.

His youth charity

Kelce founded his charity, Eighty-Seven & Running, in 2015 with a goal of helping underprivileged youth stay motivated to achieve great things in life “through fundraising, athletic programmes, mentoring, and outreach initiatives”, according to the organisation’s website.

The Kansas City mansion

Kelce has also splurged on fashion, cars and property. Earlier this year, he bought a US$6 million mansion.

The tight end seemingly spends some of his millions on an opulent lifestyle fit for an NFL superstar. Kelce loves fashion, and he regularly wears designer clothes, expensive jewellery, rare collectors’ trainers, and luxury accessories.

He also likes cars, and owns more than a garage’s worth of them. In addition to a relatively tame GMC Terrain, Carsforsale.com reports that Kelce also has an Aston Martin Vanquish, a Mercedes-AMG G 63, a custom Land Rover, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS convertible.

In February, Hello! magazine reported that Kelce bought a US$6 million mansion in Kansas City complete with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool, an outdoor kitchen and over three acres (1.2 hectares) of land.

His previous home now has an estimated worth of about US$1 million. He also co-owns a small condo in Orlando, Florida, with his brother and his parents.