Why Chiefs Fans Worry About Kansas Stadium Design

Three most important factors: Tailgating, tailgating, tailgating

Those fans would appreciate something else when the team finally decides where it’ll play home games over the next three decades: Tailgating.

Chiefs fans started lining up cars at the parking booths on Lancer Lane Saturday night, knowing full well lots wouldn’t open until four hours prior to kickoff against the Ravens.

That’s how strongly they care about the tailgating experience. Many prefer the camaraderie and relationships they’ve cultivated, some that began Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972, as much or even more than the game.

Some are friends who used to write ‘Do you like me, yes or no?’ notes to each other in elementary school. Others are parents and their children’s children. And every one will fight the person who claims the Lambeau Field tailgating experience is better than the Eden they have in the acres surrounding GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

And that’s why a large group of Chiefs fans don’t want to lose their team to the state of Kansas. They don’t want to lose their tailgating experience at the Truman Sports Complex, something they know obviously well should the team choose to simply take Missouri’s offer and renovate the existing facility – soon to be the NFL’s second-oldest once the Bears leave Soldier Field.

And because they know what they don’t know about the proposed indoor facility across the border in Wyandotte County, Kansas, many prefer the Chiefs stay put. While plans for that proposed multi-use property continue to evolve, nothing has been shared publicly that have addressed concrete plans for that facility’s tailgating options.

Team has heard those desires

The team is well aware of the fans’ desires, having surveyed thousands of them. Results revealed the two most important factors were tailgating and the ability to match or exceed Arrowhead’s 142.2-decibel world-record noise.

“We talked to them about both options, particularly on the renovation side,” team president Mark Donovan said July 22, referring to the Arrowhead opportunity. “We got a lot of good feedback. It was interesting feedback. Some things sort of opened our eyes to what was really important to them. So, we've incorporated some of those as we continue to revise that design.

“I would say that most of the feedback from fans is related directly to the stadium experience. So, in-stadium, ‘I'd like to see this, this or this.’ Or, ‘in-stadium, I’ve been to this stadium at another NFL team, they have this. Could we incorporate that?’”

The Jacksonville timeline

This week, Donovan, chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and a Chiefs contingent will carve out time during Kansas City’s trip to Jacksonville in order to meet with Jaguars officials. That franchise is in the first year of a $1.4 billion stadium renovation that will actually displace the team in 2027.

NFL owners are expected next month to finalize the Jaguars’ plans to play their 2027 home schedule at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

Arrowhead renovations, should the Chiefs take the package Missouri has offered, aren’t expected to displace the team. But if that happens, ironically the team’s best option to play home games away from the current venue is in Kansas.

David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is 51 miles from Arrowhead, in Lawrence. The home of the Jayhawks just completed a $50 million facelift. The 104-year-old stadium’s capacity is only 41,525 but could expand for Chiefs games.

For now, though, the biggest concern for the Chiefs – and their fans – is simply making a choice. Donovan said in July he felt privileged by one particular point that fans communicated.

“The humbling one was, there was a very high level from the survey of, ‘We trust the Chiefs to do the right thing.’ So that’s humbling, but it also creates even more pressure on the responsibility to get it right. That's one of the reasons we're taking the time.”