Kansas City Awarded a Super Bowl Game!

[kcchief19]

... if we manage to get a rolling roof installed on Arrowhead Stadium during the next 10 years. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13183748.htm

Honestly, I think there is somewhere between slim and no chance in hell this will happen, but ... the possibilities are intriguing.

It's a little known fact that the Truman Sports Complex which includes Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums was designed to incorporate a sliding roof that would cover both stadiums. It was left out from the original construction due to costs and logistics. The stadiums could be retrofitted, but my understanding is that it would cause a loss of some seats in Arrowhead and it could drastically alter the look of Kauffman.

Interesting to see which way the wind blows on this one. Getting a Super Bowl would be a huge boost to the city, and the revenue generated could help significantly offset some of the costs. Jackson County taxpayers will have to approave a hefty sales tax to make it happen, and I'm not sure the will is there.

Ragone will like this plan because it would kill a downtown baseball stadium. :)

[stevew]

care to cut and paste?

[kcchief19]

If Chiefs get rolling roof, KC gets Super Bowl http://www.kansascity.com/images/common/spacer.gif
By RANDY COVITZ
http://www.kansascity.com/images/common/spacer.gif
The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/images/common/spacer.gif
<!-- begin body-content --> The National Football League today awarded Kansas City a Super Bowl during a 10-year period, contingent on the Chiefs getting a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex as part of a renovated and expanded Arrowhead Stadium.

The most likely dates would be Super Bowl IL in 2015 or Super Bowl LI in 2017.

The Chiefs and Royals are negotiating improvements for Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium with Jackson County. The two teams had been seeking about $465 million in public money for their stadiums, and a referendum, likely for three-eighths of a cent sales tax increase for at least 25 years, would fund most of the work.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said the roof could raise the total of the project by anywhere from $100 to $200 million. If Jackson County voters approve the refurbishments, the clubs would agree to new leases, at least for 25 years through 2031.

“The decision was clearly in recognition of the tremendous support the Kansas City Chiefs have from their fans in this area and also the role of Lamar Hunt in creating the NFL today and the history of professional football,” NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said at a news conference at the conclusion of the league’s fall meetings at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.

Hunt, the founder of the American Football League and the Chiefs and a driving force in creating the merger with the NFL in 1966, was elated with the decision.

“This is a very happy day and in some respects a surprising day because this is an issue that we as an organization have talked about for a number of years, the concept of bidding for and requesting a Super Bowl,” Hunt said “We felt climate control was very important, and the thing we heard over and over was the public and many members of the media would like to revisit the idea of a rolling roof, which was originally designed for the complex (in 1967). Now that we’re into the 21st century, we had to get into the weather protection aspect because the original rolling roof (between Arrowhead and Royals Stadium) did not have weather protection. It had rain protection, but it did not have temperature protection that would be part of this process.”

There have been two other Super Bowls played in cold-weather cities — in 1982 at Pontiac, Mich.; in 1992 at Minneapolis; and the upcoming Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

The Chiefs are also confident an enclosed Arrowhead Stadium would attract Final Fours and other NCAA events as well as ensure Big 12 Championship football games.

.

[kcchief19]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/images/52787CCF82F04D998DC2029FE7C1B157.JPG?0.64107592064111

This is from the Chiefs Web site on the "concept." I don't exactly see how this "thing" would roll.

[vex]

Would make the Big 12 Championship games much better:)

[chinaski]

I remember when they were initially talking about making a rolling roof that would go between Arrowhead and Kauffman, cool idea but it was way to ambitious for the time.

Super Bowls shouldnt be played indoors though, so this whole new idea sucks.

[oliegirl]

I think the name "Arrowhead Stadium" and the team name "Chiefs" is disciminatory toward Indians and they should have to change the name of the stadium, and the football team, if they want a Super Bowl...b/c of all the worldwide exposure people might get upset.

j/k of course - I just couldn't resist :)

[Passacaglia]

So it's okay to have a Super Bowl in the Meadowlands, but Arrowhead needs a dome? If I were KC, I'd tell 'em to get bent.

[Passacaglia]

So it's okay to have a Super Bowl in the Meadowlands, but Arrowhead needs a dome? If I were KC, I'd tell 'em to get bent.

Of course, thousands of Kansas City residents are thinking, "Thank God Passacaglia has nothing to do with our city!"

[st.cronin]

???

Kansas City? So is Green Bay going to get a Super Bowl sometime, too?

[flere-imsaho]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to see a Super Bowl played in the snow.

[Karlifornia]

How about beautiful Irwindale?

[cthomer5000]

So it's okay to have a Super Bowl in the Meadowlands, but Arrowhead needs a dome? If I were KC, I'd tell 'em to get bent.
Ummmm, when are we having a Super Bowl here at the Meadowlands? http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/confused.gif

[kcchief19]

I think the name "Arrowhead Stadium" and the team name "Chiefs" is disciminatory toward Indians and they should have to change the name of the stadium, and the football team, if they want a Super Bowl...b/c of all the worldwide exposure people might get upset.

j/k of course - I just couldn't resist :) Oddly, the name Chiefs doesn't come from a Native American reference, but rather from the mayor who put together the deal that lured Lamar Hunt and the team here from Dallas. His nickname was "Chief."

[JonInMiddleGA]

So it's okay to have a Super Bowl in the Meadowlands, but Arrowhead needs a dome? If I were KC, I'd tell 'em to get bent.

That's alright, Atlanta was told that it was too cold to host the Super Bowl ... and that's WITH a dome.

[WrongWay]

Sorry, but I still believe there will be no football played in Arrowhead Stadium in ten years.

I wonder what kind of PR stunt this is after the people have voted down all renovation plans for the stadium. And, with the Sports Complex Center out of money I wonder how long they can keep the Cheifs there?

Right now, My money is on the Chiefs playing in a new stadium in Kansas City, KS in ten years. I wonder if the offer would be available for the Kansas Chiefs as well?

[Galaxy]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to see a Super Bowl played in the snow.

Best thing about the CFL and Grey Cup game...No pussy its-too-cold and snowing out crap.

[Galaxy]

Does KC met the hotel room requirements? Jacksonville had to dock ships (and a lot of them) to meet them.

[kcchief19]

Does KC met the hotel room requirements? Jacksonville had to dock ships (and a lot of them) to meet them. No. We have "enough" hotel space, but not "quality" hotel space. Based on what the NFL has stated as the minimum number of hotel rooms, it would mean using hotels that are one step above a cot at the YMCA.

[kcchief19]

Sorry, but I still believe there will be no football played in Arrowhead Stadium in ten years.

I wonder what kind of PR stunt this is after the people have voted down all renovation plans for the stadium. And, with the Sports Complex Center out of money I wonder how long they can keep the Cheifs there?

Right now, My money is on the Chiefs playing in a new stadium in Kansas City, KS in ten years. I wonder if the offer would be available for the Kansas Chiefs as well? Again, I don't really know where you get your information. There is one plan that has gone before voters for renovations to the stadiums, and that was a a flawed bi-state plan. Even that plan passed easily in Jackson County, which is who will be voting alone on the next plan.

I don't know how you can call it a PR stunt when the NFL has guaranteed the game if the roof is built. It's quid pro quo, but it's not like the city wouldn't be getting anything in return. The plan they are talking about now would put about $300-400 million into Arrowhead, which would extend the lease another 30 years. No need to move to Kansas with that deal.

[Neon_Chaos]

I'd bet them Kansas board members are going to say that there are certain Football rules that are not clearly defined... and that someone, a higher being put them there!

Call it Creationasuperbowlafootballism.

[primelord]

That's alright, Atlanta was told that it was too cold to host the Super Bowl ... and that's WITH a dome.
To be fair the last time they hosted one there was a huge ice storm.

[WrongWay]

Again, I don't really know where you get your information. There is one plan that has gone before voters for renovations to the stadiums, and that was a a flawed bi-state plan. Even that plan passed easily in Jackson County, which is who will be voting alone on the next plan.

We've talked about this before and I have changed my mind and decided that Kansas City KS can suport to build a new stadium. Sorry, I really do not see Jackson County being able to finance the renovations and now "Roof project" all by themselves.

You think a county with 660,000 people are going to be able to now, Retractable Roof included, come up with half a billion dollars all by themselves? Where is the money going to come from besides directly from the Tax payers? I do not consider Jackson County to be much of a tourist paradise, so a hotel tax alone probably wouldn't even be enough to pay for new scoreboard.

I thought the Chiefs were going to have to move entirely, but I am now Convinced that they will end up with a new stadium next to the Nascar track in Kansas City Kansas.

[WrongWay]

Next you'll actually want a halftime show that you can stomach and actual football fans in the stands... get real!
What are you talking about, there are football fans in the stands at the Super Bowl. You just have to look up, and up, and up, and then a little bit higher and over. See there they are last row of the stadium behind the end Zone. :D

[Ragone]

Yea.. this would kill a downtown stadium for sure.. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

To be fair the last time they hosted one there was a huge ice storm.

Whereas Kansas City has never had one of those?

My point being - the cold weather excuse was pure b.s. from the NFL.
AFAIC, KC or anywhere else is welcome to the SB. All having it in Atlanta does for me is make advertising rates go up for few weeks & make my life harder, so I'm certainly not upset by its absence.

[oliegirl]

Oddly, the name Chiefs doesn't come from a Native American reference, but rather from the mayor who put together the deal that lured Lamar Hunt and the team here from Dallas. His nickname was "Chief."

Then why does their helmet have an arrowhead on it and their stadium is Arrowhead?

I was completley joking with my first post, but now I am intrigued about how it morphed from being named after some guy to bearing Indian likenesses...

[digamma]

My point being - the cold weather excuse was pure b.s. from the NFL.

I agree with that.

To add a juicy little nugget to the story, a good friend of mine watched the Titans-Rams Super Bowl from the sidelines, and struck up a conversation with an NFL official.

Towards the end of the game, he asked the league suit when he thought Atlanta would get another Super Bowl. The response: "Never."

Atlanta has a way of whoring itself out like no other city when a big event comes to town, and the results aren't always positive.

[kcchief19]

Then why does their helmet have an arrowhead on it and their stadium is Arrowhead?

I was completley joking with my first post, but now I am intrigued about how it morphed from being named after some guy to bearing Indian likenesses... Oh, it doesn't make any sense ... don't get me wrong. :)

Team lore says that they used the arrowhead logo because Lamar Hunt thought it looked neat. After that, the Native American references began flowing, to the point where we engaged in the silly tomahawkchop and had a guy riding around on a horse named Warpaint. The team "claims" to have removed all Native American references from their marketing other than the arrowhead, although I swear I hear the tomahawkchop music in the background on TV periodically.

[rkmsuf]

Somewhere Dick Vermeil is crying over this news.

[kcchief19]

Towards the end of the game, he asked the league suit when he thought Atlanta would get another Super Bowl. The response: "Never."

Atlanta has a way of whoring itself out like no other city when a big event comes to town, and the results aren't always positive. In that same vein, there is the huge International Builders' Show that is one of the largest conventions in the country that was schedule to return to Atlanta in '07-08. Atlanta is one of of about four or five cities with the proper convention and hotel facilities to host the show, and the national association that puts on the show does a reasonable job of getting the cities pitted against one another to hammer out concessions.

Well, apparently some of the hotels weren't happy with some of the concessions that the convention and visitors bureau agreed to, and there was internal controversey. So the head of the either the CVB or the chamber of commerce -- I can't remember which -- sent a letter to the hotels telling them to ignore price concessions and ratchet up the hotel rates as high as they want. The national association got a hold of this letter and voted to pull the show from Atlanta immediately and never return.

I attended the convention in Atlanta in 2001, and I though the did a decent job. The World Congress Center is a very nice facility, if not a bit confusing to navigate. The weather was reasonable for February -- I think it was in the 50s most of the time. But considering the other options are/were Las Vegas, Orlando and New Orleans, Atlanta was a distant fourth anyway.

Personally, I don't think Kansas City is ready for the Super Bowl, but this is the kind of thing we need to jumpstart convention and visitor business.

[Toddiec]

I personally don't give this rolling roof thing more than a 1% chance of passing. The debate is getting pretty heated between the renovation folks and the downtown ballpark folks. When I first heard this news I immediately thought that this was Lamar Hunt calling in a favor with the NFL to issue an ultimatum that KC either gets a rolling roof (which I assumed would be part of the renovation issue on the ballot) or it never gets a Super Bowl. Fear and horror ensue and Hunt can sit back and bask in the glory of his witty PR move.

But, then I heard that it would be a seperate issue on the ballot! That blows my conspiracy theory out of the water. But, if I still don't see it happening. The ballot will contain a $300 million deal for renovation the Sports Complex...AND a 100-200 million deal for building a rolling roof?? I don't see either of those passing. I don't think voters will vote for the $300 million because the Royals haven't officially come out in support of it, the downtown ballpark issue, the move to Kansas issue, and the fact they were burned by the Sports Commission that got them into this crap agreement with the teams in the first place. I don't think voters will vote for the roof because if the $300 million deal doesn't pass, why on earth put a roof on a stadium that the team may not even occupy in 10 years? The Royals have no need of this roof (three or four rain outs a year doesn't justify it).

To summarize....the NFL is essentially saying, "To show how much we love the Huntsand Chiefs fans, here is a Super Bowl that you have no hope of achieving.....Enjoy!"

Anyway, just my two cents.

[WrongWay]

What ballot is going before the voters and when?

I have not hear of the seperate vote for the roof, but I wonder what would happen if the Stadium vote failed and the roof vote passed?

I am curious about which plan they will be using on the ballot as I have hear of 2 different ideas. One invloving basically an equal split of the money between the stadiums and the other was like 85% - 15% infavor of Arrowhead stadium.

And, have the Chiefs agreed to restructure their leases so the Stadium Complex does not go broke again?



Jumping across the boarder so to speak; I wonder when we will see a vote on the Kansas side for building a new stadium? Nothing official, just getting enough signatures on a piece of paper to be included in the next election.

[Senator]

Every Super Bowl should be played in Green Bay, with the water sprinklers on 2 weeks before game time.

[Ragone]

Oh yea.. they built a dave&busters out near the speedway kcchief.. si.. any other kc area fofcer we should all go out there sometime damnit :)

[kcchief19]

Oh yea.. they built a dave&busters out near the speedway kcchief.. si.. any other kc area fofcer we should all go out there sometime damnit :) I'm in. SI should be in since the speedway is pretty much halfway between us and him. :)

[kcchief19]

What ballot is going before the voters and when?
Jackson County will put a ballot measure on in 2006 -- probably in April -- for a 3/8-cent sales tax to generate $400 million for the complex. How that money will be divided hasn't been determined. One play calls for the money to be split down the middle with both teams extending their TSC leases until 2030. If the Royals decide they want to consider their options for downtown, an alternate proposal would give the Chiefs about $325 million and the Royals $75 million, which the Royals could use to make improvements to Kauffman or put toward a downtown stadium.

If option one is the choice, then the rolling roof will need to be determined later. If option two is the choice, I think the roof will be a done deal since Hunt has said he's willing to put his own money in -- maybe $50 million -- and sell the naming rights. That would get them more than halfway there.

Jumping across the boarder so to speak; I wonder when we will see a vote on the Kansas side for building a new stadium? Nothing official, just getting enough signatures on a piece of paper to be included in the next election. You're years away. The Chiefs will have to have exhausted their options for the TSC, which means Jackson County will have had to reject a plan for renovations -- and Jackson County passed the bi-state tax pretty comfortably, which suggests it has a good chance. If Jackson County rejects a deal for both teams, then the Royals will be the first to shop and they will try to put together a deal downtown. Jackson County will probably then try one more time to put together a Chiefs-only deal in 2007. If that's rejected, then Johnson and Wyandotte will have to work out what they want to do. The speedway is a logical location, but will Johnson County be willing to help pay for a stadium in The Dot? I think Johnson County is almost out of the equation -- there are too few central locations with the necessary infrastructure to support a stadium that are available, and land prices are so steep that it would probably cost $50 million more to put the same stadium in Johnson County. Once those two decide what they want to do, the legislature will have to approve either state financing or more star bonds -- but I think the speedway location is pretty much bond maxed out right now. That means the earliest you would see something on the ballot to build a stadium in Kansas would be 2008 or 2009.

I think getting lost in this -- mostly because he hasn't come out and said it straight forward -- is that bringing the Super Bowl to Kansas City is Lamar Hunt's dream. The NFL owners only decided to make this deal with Lamar because they feel they owe it to him. Lamar wants to bring a Super Bowl here, and he knows darn well he will never see it. With his health problems and his age, he knows he won't make it 10 years to see the Super Bowl here.

Indications are that the Royals don't want a rolling roof, so that makes you ask the question about whether it would be cheaper to build a retractable roofing just for Arrowhead. If so, that makes the decision one step easier.

I'm still not decided -- and I'll need to see the final financing numers and plan to make a final decision -- but right now I'm leaning in favor. A Super Bowl has an economic impact of around $250 million on a metro area, which compared with the cost of the roof makes it almost a no-brainer. That's aside from the other economic impact it would have, such as the ancillary boost in hotel and convention business outside the Super Bowl. Plus, if Arrowhead were climate controlled, we would be virtually guaranteed of hosting the Big XII championship game every other year at the very least, and Arrowhead would host multiple Final Fours. Kansas City is a tremendous location for college basketball, and I don't think the NCAA would think twice about bringing the Final Four here regularly.

[WrongWay]

One play calls for the money to be split down the middle with both teams extending their TSC leases until 2030

I thought this was the major problem for the Sports Complex. The current leases that the chiefs signed has the complex broke an unable to make repairs to the current stadiums. I was under the impression that it was one of the worst, one sided deals, in the league.

[Toddiec]

The Royals are having a news conference right now stating that if the renovations get approved MLB has promised them an All-Star Game. Two weeks before the vote = Good Timing!

They are saying in the 2010 to 2015 range.