Kansas City Council member Quinton Lucas is proposing a Chiefs home game in St. Louis. Find out why this could be a good idea for the Chiefs and STL.
Ed. Update: Councilman Lucas says the idea and comments originated last fall in response to the NFL’s international push to have the Chiefs play in Mexico City and were recently discovered by St. Louis television stations.
While watching the NFL Honors program on Saturday night from the comfy confines of my eastern Missouri home, a commercial caught my attention. KSDK, the local CBS affiliate in St. Louis, ran a news promo several times during the awards show teasing the idea of “the Kansas City Chiefs possibly playing in St. Louis.”
Their teaser worked. I stayed up late Sunday night to get the full story. Here is what I learned: Quinton Lucas, 3rd District Councilman in Kansas City, has proposed the Chiefs play one game per season in St. Louis.
His reasoning is simple: if the NFL is willing to schedule international games that don’t provide economic benefits to the team’s local community or region, then the league should consider scheduling regional games as well that make more sense for the team’s regional economy.
Lucas believes playing a game in St. Louis would provide multiple benefits for Kansas City, too. The Chiefs organization would be able to expand their brand while energizing regional fans by sacrificing just one regular season game. The thinking is that this could bring back to K.C. a significant “return on investment” over the long-term.
St. Louis would get an opportunity to host an NFL game, providing a convenient opportunity for fans of eastern Missouri to experience a real game (not an exhibition) and support the Chiefs while boosting the St. Louis economy.
One of the first objections many people ask Lucas is, “Why would the Chiefs give up a home game?”
Lucas said, “My whole perspective is if the NFL is asking a lot of teams to give up home games as the Chiefs did a few years ago when they played the Lions in London, which was a 9 a.m. kickoff here in K.C. and nobody in the U.S. got something out of it. I think it’s probably more fun, more exciting and more money for us, at least in the short term in Kansas City, to get people in St. Louis and other areas excited.”
Lucas has connections to St. Louis. He attended Washington University, and he sees this as a win-win for both cities. K.C. would expand their market while St. Louis gets to participate in America’s most popular sport once again.
One point KSDK reporter Chris Nagus made during his story was the parking revenue that would be lost by moving a game to St. Louis, along with the employees of Arrowhead stadium losing that income as well. At $30 to $60 for parking per vehicle, you can easily do the math and see how that could be significant. Lucas acknowledges this is an important point that will need to be worked out to make this idea happen.
However, if the Chiefs are adding new regional fans in this process, they may be able to make that money back over the course of the season. Keep in mind the Chiefs have had season ticket holders in every state. People are willing to travel to watch the Chiefs in person. I myself am one who drives five hours to see the Chiefs. I know there are more fans like me in St. Louis and beyond. I’ve met Chiefs fans at fast food joints and gas stations along I-70 during my drives home after games. One family of Chiefs fans I met was driving back to their home in central Illinois. The point is, fans in St. Louis who feel like they are a part of Chiefs Kingdom are more likely to come over to Kansas City and spend more money on the Chiefs.
With this move, I would imagine those numbers of regional fans would only grow. Are you seeing the benefits yet?
Ever since the Rams left St. Louis three years ago, team owner Clark Hunt expressed a desire to market the Chiefs throughout the entire state of Missouri. The NFL rules grant him that privilege and as a business owner, I don’t blame him for wanting to expand his brand and fill a need in a market that still has plenty of football fans hungry for a new team.
In the television report, Nagus went to the streets of the Power & Light district in Kansas City and to the Cardinals Winter Warmup in St. Louis to ask sports fans what they think about this proposal. Most of the fans on camera were open to the idea and a few were visibly excited.
Of course, this is all just an idea right now being pushed by a community leader of Kansas City. However, at the end of the news segment, reporter Chris Nagus said, “I reached out to the Chiefs and they don’t have an official position on Lucas’s proposal.” To me, that says the Chiefs are at least open to this idea. Here is a video of the story.
Fan reactions in Kansas City and St. Louis would likely play a big part in the Chiefs’ decision. There are many questions that will need to be answered if such a move takes place. For example, will Chiefs’ season ticket holders get a chance to buy tickets to the St. Louis game? Does this idea essentially force the Chiefs to have an extra road game? There are lots of considerations here.
What do you think? Would you support the Chiefs having a “home” game in St. Louis? Do you think it would be good for the franchise? Would one game be missed or is the television experience so good that it wouldn’t bother fans to have one less home game at Arrowhead?