Chiefs: Truman Complex vs Downtown

Josh Kingsley

Kansas City earned a World Cup spot as a venue in June, and although I covered it extensively, I left the topic open from the standpoint that Arrowhead is “old” and Kansas City has a decision to make. Here are the proposed 3 paths:

Reinvent Truman Sports Complex adding amenities and a roof over Arrowhead.
Build a new stadium in the downtown KC area.
Move to Kansas and build a new stadium in the Legends.

I promised a revisit, and this is the week. Since that piece I have spoken to many KC, soccer and NFL fans about the topic. The main consensus: Arrowhead is a temple that does not need an update. Secondary consensus: that doesn’t matter and something will give by the time the World Cup stage hits KC. We will absolutely have a “new” stadium in some level of capacity, and tax payers will foot most of the bill. Please note I am stating these things as most likely scenarios and not personal opinions in any direction. Now, assuming funding for the project, I have thoughts on direction.

Arrowhead Downtown

My first move out of the gate: absolutely no to the downtown or close location. My longstanding and dogmatic belief is football as a destination. No one decides over lunch to ditch work early and catch a football game: that is NBA, NHL and MLB fandom behavior. Part of this is the sheer volume of games. The other part is the experience is just different. There is some level of order and TV pace to hockey and basketball, but baseball is a free for all. No one walks into a baseball game with a full understanding of the time commitment. A big portion of the fans in the stands show up late. Baseball watching is casual. Basketball and hockey games are mostly predictable, but the timing is still open.

Pro football games operate on a different level. The NFL has dialed the production with a military like precision. A trip to Arrowhead is a glorious commitment. Wake up, have breakfast, hit the tailgate line, make your parking lot rounds, party with your 75K closest friends, and head somewhere for dinner. The NFL and TV partners made it so you can actually make dinner plans. Anything with a baseball game has to be loose. The downtown factor could damage or destroy the experience. Downtown adds logistical tension, but the real risk is the tailgating. Tailgating is not a thing at downtown stadiums. I know this deeply, and will explain why shortly. However, first my weekly sidebar.

Ode to the French

I cannot think of a more pronounced lightning rod of Europe than France. That country has a reputation. They are the butt of jokes, and a source of eye rolls. –> They are also great at everything they do. <– In 2015 I took a job as a product manager for a CPG (marketing speak – consumer packaged good) company. My product portfolio was the retail offering. Over the course of my career/day job I have been part of a team putting products and displays in Walmarts, Home Depots, Menards, Lowes, Walgreens, Hobby Lobbys, Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and many other regional chains. This particular story brings a specific curveball: packaging design. A certain big box retailer carried the majority of my line, and they had quite specific and direct packaging guidelines. The item of note: equal weight tri-lingual everything.

Let me translate. Every word on the package had to be in English, Spanish and French, and the font size, color and bold level had to match in all 3 languages. Most packaging in the States are bilingual — English and Spanish — but tri-lingual is somewhat rare. The main thing I will say about the tri-lingual is that its a design nightmare. The rules make it hard to fit everything. Why this rule? The store chain has locations in all Canadian provinces, and Québec requires it. The retailer’s stance was every product they buy can go in every store they own. They did not want to worry about multiple inventories. Made, and still makes, perfect sense to me.

Vendor Training

This particular store offered a vendor training course in their home office, and I attended a session. The session served to showcase the retailer, explain their rules, and increase engagement with their vendors. My favorite session was when the head of legal spoke. Side note: I have been in more meetings that I can count with corporate legal counsel. Those people and conversations are equal parts fascinating and infuriating. Here were her main points/comments when addressing tri-lingual packaging:

Canada takes Québec seriously and supports them ferociously
Québec takes their French culture to heart and safeguards it like a family member and core DNA
The North American Academy of French Studies — or something like that — take their charge of keeping French alive in North America seriously

In short, tri-lingual packaging is a rule provided by City Hall, and you can’t fight City Hall.

Across the Pond

Misty and I made a trip to Europe in 2017 for a Tottenham Hotspur match and our anniversary… and I think I have those in the correct order. A trip to London for a soccer match turned into a trip to London, then Paris, then Reykjavík, then Toronto. I cannot think of a better story to describe how we roll. Paris was without a doubt my favorite stop on the tour, and it was not remotely close. The food was incredible, the stops (Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower, War Museum to name a few) were visual masterpieces, and the people were nice. That last part is the real rap of France. I view visiting another country or culture in a similar fashion to visiting a stadium and rooting for the visitors. The majority of people will be as cool as you, so be nice.

I really believe in that last comment, and have many examples of being a fan of the visiting team. The best examples I have are Philly for an Eagles game and Paris. I bring up all of this about Paris to tell a quick story that ties this all together. Misty and I jumped on a double-decker tourist bus with the headphones. The recording talked about all the buildings in the area, but one stood out. We passed this big, beautiful old building, and the voice said something to this effect:

“On your left you find the Academy of French Studies.

This is where we archive and preserve history

and decide what makes things French.”

A light went off in my head, and the legal person and the retailer made sense. France believes their culture, history and traditions mean something, and they will go to every length to preserve it all.

Back to Arrowhead

I feel a France level connection with tailgating. Tailgating is an art, and we need an academy to ensure it perseverance. It is also a dying art in many ways. Some places simply don’t have space. Two examples are Soldier Field and Lucas Oil Stadium. Bears fans profile as tailgaters, but the space they need has the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium. The Bears are most likely moving to the suburbs to a spot in Arlington Heights. That move will make it easier to get to a game, but may not solve the tailgate problem. Personal opinion: move to Joliet and be next to the NASCAR track so fans can do this right. I simply do not see a move toward downtown KC being anything but a tailgate killer.

I specifically bring up Indy because I am planning a trip. We are doing a “tailgate” in a wedding venue. The party will be awesome, but it won’t be in a parking lot. Check out all the details of the party and planning team on Arrowhead Kingdom, and buy tickets here. We will work to keep the tailgate tradition alive in Indy, and we will make it work quite well.

The Kansas Option

This is the threat on the table. Make a new stadium happen Missouri or we will let Kansas build it. The best spot to put a stadium in Kansas is the Legends area. There is space galore to drop a stadium and tailgate the heck out of it. The Kansas native in me wants to want this, but I can’t. I care about tradition. The CHIEFS play in Arrowhead at the Truman Sports Complex.

The Only Option

The CHIEFS belong at Truman. Kansas City belongs in the World Cup stable of venues. The NFL should put a Super Bowl in Kansas City. My second comment only happens if the stadium is world class, which Arrowhead is. Unfortunately, it must also be world class in amenities, which it surely isn’t. I cannot define that and don’t really want to. However, FIFA can and will. The Super Bowl only happens if the stadium is world class AND covered. New York was a risk for the NFL in terms of weather, but it was also New York. That is the one place the NFL could take the risk. The NFL will not take a weather risk in Kansas City. World Cup will force upgrades, and the CHIEFS and city must ensure they cover Super Bowl needs.

What about the Royals? I think they belong downtown, but they are also fine at Truman. Again, all of this is under the assumption the funding comes together. The writing appears to be on the proverbial wall that a Royals move to downtown is imminent. Assuming that happens TSC becomes a blank canvas for the CHIEFS to paint. The mission: keep all the parking lot space for continuation of tailgating. Secondary mission: come up with something else to do in the area as well. My proposal: replace The K with something like Xfinity Live in Philly. Finally, put a retractable roof over Arrowhead so KC can host a Super Bowl. World Cup prep will handle all of the other hotel requirements.

That is the recommendation of the Academy of Tailgate Studies.

Weekend Preview

The CHIEFS travel to Glendale, Arizona this weekend, and hopefully it is the first of two trips this season. Their task at hand is to hit the ground running with a win kicking off a brutal schedule. The CHIEFS 2022 slate features a consistent diet of 2021 playoff teams and 2022 hopefuls, and also the Seahawks and Jags. National media is digging in hard on the CHIEFS regression message, and anything less than a definitive week 1 win will fuel it. All of the talk about difficulty of schedule and national narrative mean whatever we as consumers choose for them to mean. History gives annual examples of teams over and under achieving, so this is all a moving target. It behooves the CHIEFS to make it clear that they are not in the regression discussion.

Spring training showed us a motivated and polished Patrick Mahomes, a hungry crew of young D players, and a unified team. The offseason also showed us a disconnected Cardinals team. Kyler Murray effectively complained his way to a long term extension, and it included extra drama. Apparently the Cardinals felt the need to include a clause that essentially required Murray to do his job. The 4 hour/week film study clause became an immediate embarrassment for all parties, so the Cardinals did the only logical thing and removed it from the signed contract. Other Cardinals drama includes Deandre Hopkins. Hopkins spent a large amount of 2021 injured. His 2022 starts with a 6 game PED suspension. We have quite possibly seen the last of the best of #10.

I predict a comfortable CHIEFS win to the tune of 10 points, and really anything less is a disaster. Final prediction: CHIEFS 31 – Cardinals 20.

Movie of the Week

Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame released Orgazmo on September 6, 1997, and almost no one noticed.

The plot is ridiculous, all dialog is raunchy, the movie is rated NC-17, and I don’t think many readers will like it. I think it’s funny and didn’t have anything else to include this week. To quote the end of the satirical disclaimer at the beginning of every South Park episode:

“…program contains course language and due to

its content it should not be viewed by anyone.”

Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom