Once upon a time, Kansas City was seen as an afterthought.
Not just the NFL franchise that resided in the city, but the actual city itself.
It’s hard to believe now, but no one was circling Kansas City as a must-see travel destination.
The Chiefs weren’t hugely relevant or popular within the NFL landscape.
Now, they are the most dominant team in the sport, free agents and stars alike clamor to join, and the franchise itself has seen its’ value catapult all the way to over $6 billion.
In an exclusive with talkSPORT, Kansas City Chiefs beat writer Pete Sweeney, shared just how far the city and franchise has grown on a national (and global) scale since the arrival of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid.
“There’s just a lot more attention on Kansas City,” Sweeney said.
“When I took my job as an intern, ten, eleven years ago, Kansas City was sort of like this hidden gem that I think in the perspective of the United States, not everyone really knew a lot about Kansas City. I know that people knew about the barbecue and so on and so forth.
“The Chiefs were in a way, known historically as lovable losers to an extent and the Royals were never really all that good. From a sports perspective, there was nothing really drawing you to find out like, ‘Kansas City, I want to learn more about that.’
“Now I think with just how good the Chiefs have been, it’s really made people know of Kansas City across the country, for better or for worse.
“I’m sure there’s people in Denver and Oakland and the Chargers fans that exist that don’t love the attention that they get, but it’s become a Michael Jordan, Tom Brady-esque following.”
There’s no question that winning puts you on the map.
Since Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs have complied a 83-24 record over that span. An absurd .775 winning percentage. Both tops in the NFL.
They have won three Super Bowls in that span, been to four, have six division titles and look to be well on their way to a seventh, as they have got off to a blistering 8-0 start on the year.
You win, you put yourself in front of the national audience, and everyone starts to take notice. It’s impossible to ignore. All of a sudden, the Chiefs aren’t just reaching those in its’ own city, but they start to have a national reach.
“You hear different stories from fans that go and watch the Chiefs in other cities where you’re not just getting Chiefs fans that are traveling,” Sweeney said.
“There are Chiefs fans that are just in those cities. I had a friend tell me the other day, he was watching a Chiefs Chargers game and met a family from California.
“The kid just got obsessed with the Chiefs. They had never even been to Kansas City or Arrowhead. That’s what was happening when Michael Jordan was doing what he was doing.
Mahomes and the Chiefs have become what Jordan and his Chicago Bulls were in the 90’s.
Soon the national scale starts to turn global.
Factor in one of the league’s biggest stars, dating one of the world’s biggest stars, and you have Kansas City being talked about as an actual must-go-to destination.
“When you see Travis Kelce get with the biggest pop star in the world and now that you’re in this relationship and you have celebrities coming to Arrowhead, it has become a destination,” Sweeney said.
“I’ve really seen it in these past ten years where, you know, I would have described Kansas City back in 2014, when I started doing this type of stuff, as a hidden gem.
“Now I think it’s clearly, if it’s not there yet, approaching one of those second tier cities. You know, I would put New York and Chicago and LA as your like top tier cities, but the Denvers, the Nashvilles, and now Kansas City is getting to be right there.”
Kansas City is a place people want to go to now. The Chiefs are the hottest thing in the sport, and have been for a while now.
Worth $6 billion as a franchise right now, that number is only going to increase as long as Mahomes keeps winning.
By the looks of it, there’s no end in sight.
