Josh Kingsley
Media week is upon us!! By media week I mean the tortuous week after Pro Bowl Sunday that makes us wait a long time to see the CHIEFS in the Super Bowl. That week. That’s what we are doing at present, and it’s a grind. Mainly a grind against my patience because I want to watch the game already, but it’s still a grind.
That all said, I kind of participated in it. Am I in Arizona doing interviews with players? No, but that would be cool. The first spot is something that has become a tradition. Sometime during the early part of media before Super Bowl LIV I was minding my business at work. All of the sudden my phone and laptop were going nuts as I received an email, Facebook message and LinkedIn message at essentially the same time. Every one came from a talented reporter named Hannah Kirby from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The 49ers represented the NFC by beating the Packers, and she was looking for CHIEFS fans in the area. Some quick research on the topic found my group. We hit a coffee shop and she (Hannah Kirby) put a great article together. Almost immediately she sent a follow up that the article was under consideration for print. Now It ended up on the front page, which was a awesome for Hannah. About a year later we spoke again, and this week added a third conversation. I always enjoy our chats, and their indication the CHIEFS are in the Super Bowl. Thanks again, Hannah, for the highlights!!
My other media moment came in a bit of reverse when we interviewed Nathan Vickers from KCTV5 for the CHIEFScast. Thanks again, Nathan for the insight, enjoy your time in AZ, and bring home a win!!
AZ CHIEFS Kingdom
I want to take a quick moment to shout out Hotchy Kiene and the AZ CHIEFS Kingdom.
.
.
These folks reside game days at PubRock Live in Scottsdale. I get out quite a bit and have met plenty of people on the road. This ultimately leads to needs for a good watch party. My real passion and attraction to the Arrowhead Kingdom project is finding a CHIEFS viewing home for people like me. I caught a game at PubRock once, and they do right. This is the place to be in Phoenix for the weekend. I cannot recommend it enough.
Another Weekend, Another Trip
Misty’s dad lives in Vegas, so we dashed out to see him. We are at the point where our parents and kids are getting up in their respective ages, and we are pushing for interaction. I was fortunate enough to grow up extremely close to my grandparents, and believe interactions were positive and formative. Our kids don’t have that luxury, but we are pushing to make it happen as often as possible. The fortunate thing about Vegas is the ease to get there. Flights are plentiful and cheap from most places, but Milwaukee even more so with a bit of planning and willingness to fly Spirit. We had a nice little family weekend that included my personal fave, Pizza Rock (I have a thing for places that rock), that also included Misty’s sister, Tanya, joining us.
.
.
I also got to finally meet Squishy and Kat from the Vegas watch groups as well. They are part of the ever growing network of people I have met building up the national network with Arrowhead Kingdom. Vegas has a nice CHIEFS fanbase, which is now in enemy territory. Mad props to them for their contributions to Mark Davis’ lack of home field woes!!
A trip to Vegas isn’t complete without a show or two. Penn and Teller was the pick for this one. A true Vegas classic, but a first for me. The other show was even more fun.
Pro Bowl Games
The Pro Bowl is an interesting part of football. Every player dreams of making the roster, and then getting out of actually playing. The contest started in 1951 as the NFL all star game in Los Angeles, and stayed that way for a couple decades. Next stop for the Pro Bowl was Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, which lasted for 30 years. Over that 50 year time the game became, well, an all star game. Effort declined sharply as players focused more on safety and avoiding injury. The real effort decline came on the defensive side of the ball in the interest of hitting less. From 2010 to last season the format and location adjusted frequently in search of a sustainable, and watchable, programming. Fan frustration with the “contest” hit fever pitch with sarcastic calls to just play flag football.
So they did.
.
.
The NFL earns well-justified critique for many things in realms of player safety, social justice, and many other avenues I have no interest in discussing now. However, they do not receive due credit often for appropriate operational adjustments. The NFL had a core issue: the Pro Bowl was a joke. In marketing world business speak a product we call a product that takes up portfolio space a dog. There is no growth projection, but the overhead is low enough you leave it alone. Organizations have a bad habit of letting dog products die unceremonious deaths as costs increase, software expires, or some other thing forces the hand. Great organizations see it coming, rationalize the product, and make something better. The Pro Bowl was a dog. I have to credit the NFL for rationalizing the Pro Bowl and replacing it with the Pro Bowl Games.
Ode to Great Business
I was in Vegas, the Pro Bowl Games were happening, tickets started at $30, so I went. The old Pro Bowl was an unwatchable joke. Every player and coach on the field had this look of “get this over so I can actually get to my vacation” on their face. No one took time to tune in because it was a waste of time. The NFL was 100% correct to shutter than competition and replace it with something else. Player safety and injury concerns were the demise of the game, so the NFL made sure to replace it with something lacking those concerns. They ultimately chose authenticity and leaned into a lack of hitting landing on a flag football game.
It was incredible!!
.
.
Allegiant Stadium packed with fans wearing all jerseys. Aside from the drunken buffoon in a Raiders jersey in the bathroom people were friendly with each other. The players had looks of absolute joy on their faces. Snoop Dog, Pete Davidson and the Manning brothers were exactly where they wanted to be curating the carnival. The final flag football game brought out a smidgen of AFC vs NFC banter, but all in good fun. There was no yelling at the refs or trash talk or bad spirited debate. Just fun. We bought tickets in the 400 level, but spent the entire game in a standing room section lower. The NFL replaced an excuse for a football game with Tyreek Hill playing D. Good work, Goodell and team.
Expected, Immediate, Short Term Fallout
I’ve been a product manager, and I’ve rationalized products. The fallout is always the same and looks like this:
.
.
Some things in business never lie, and sales reports are one of those things. None of the above comments end up being true. It’s all fear of change type of thoughts and feelings more than solid facts. Time has a sterling track record of making such things work themselves out. New product adoption, cool heads prevailing, and everyone moves on.
The gripes for the Pro Bowl Games revolve around scorn for the flag football piece. “I would never waste money watching grown men play flag football when I can watch peewee football for free.” My first response: you should watch flag football and support our youth. The response regarding the games: just try the product. Have an open mind, check it out, and you may surprise yourself how much fun you have.
On second thought, check that, stay mad and keep the seat costs down.
A Fun Path Forward
I view new ideas from the NFL as a test market with purpose of full launch. My biggest fear outlined in previous columns centered around neutral field conference title games. An AFC Championship in Atlanta would have provided a template for the NFL to move all conference title games to high dollar neutral field affairs in a new dome. I, and most football fans, do not want that. The Pro Bowl Games did a similar test market, and I am all about this one. I will consider the Pro Bowl Games annually. It was fun for the entire family.
I will take it a step farther. Give me more of this. I can easily picture a preseason program before or during the camps featuring events like the Pro Bowl games. It sounds fun. It also sounds like a way for the NFL to showcase more of these stadiums we are all paying for all over the country.
AFC Championship Addendum
I dug into the D last week recapping the AFC title game. The special teams didn’t get the love from me they deserve. Butker is an ace this playoff season. I have supreme confidence in him to win a Super Bowl. Skyy Moore is another great example of the adult menu analogy from last week. All his time muffing punts in the Indy game and regular season put him in position for the biggest punt catch, check that, catch of his life. He wasn’t the first choice or even second for that job. I assume Reid and Toub told him something similar to this…
.
.
Keys to a Super Bowl Victory
The Big Game is upon us. It’s the game we were always getting: CHIEFS vs Eagles AKA: The Kelce Bowl: AKA the Reid Revenge vs Siriani Revenge game. I cannot add a ton to what Laddie wrote yesterday (Top 5 Chiefs Needs to Secure a S.B. LVII Victory) , so I will keep my comments here short:
.
.
The CHIEFS found a way to win every game this season but three. All the tools are in place if the execution is good. I expect a CHIEFS Super Bowl victory Sunday night.
Media of the Week
This is totally unrelated to… well… anything. I am simply sharing because this popped into my head. Absurd humor is my jam and it doesn’t get much more absurd than this. The people who put this together are geniuses, and this is something I’d totally do.
.
.
.
Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom
.