Taylor Swift Fans Read Between Lines on NFL News

To be clear, the NFL has not announced who is performing at halftime of the next Super Bowl. But fans of Taylor Swift think the league dropped a major hint that Swift herself will get the honors, reports Sports Illustrated. It's pure speculation at this point, but the NFL started the rumors when it announced—at the weird time of midnight—that Apple is taking over from Pepsi as the official Super Bowl sponsor.

TMZ does some unpacking: For one thing, "midnight" has long been associated with Swift, both in her lyrics and in regard to her album drops. In fact, her new album Midnights comes out next month. For another, Swift has a sponsorship with Coca-Cola, leading many to believe that she would never perform while Pepsi sponsored the show. Now that Apple is on board, that's no longer a problem.

Sound farfetched? Variety quotes three sources who say that the rumors are correct and that Swift will indeed perform. Neither she nor the NFL have said so, however. The idea makes sense for a number of reasons, according to Variety. The halftime show "is more-often-than-not used as a teaser for a major tour," and Swift will indeed be embarking on one of those. The league typically announces the performer around this time of year, so the mystery should be over soon, notes Sports Illustrated. (More Taylor Swift stories.)