If you do not know me personally, then you probably don't know that I went up to Lambeau yesterday to take in Cowboys/Packers. I was in the area already for a bachelor party (Congratulations to my friend Patrick) and the friends I was with wanted to go see the historic Lambeau Field. This was my second time visiting, and once again, if you know me, the Packers are my favorite NFC franchise. Let's say it was much better than I remember. The block party atmosphere, the delicious cheese, sausage, and beer, the hallowed history of one of professional sports' most iconic venues, and the charm of small town Wisconsin magnified 1000 times. What really impressed me though, was the efficiency of the stadium.
You may ask what I mean, the facilities inside the stadium worked with fantastic precision. Concessions were fast, delicious, and fairly priced, bathrooms were clean and the lines went fast, staff more than ready and able to help, a ticketing/security process that isn't an insane asylum, the works. It was a quick, easy, fun, and fulfilling experience that gave you your money's worth. One of the best stadium experiences I've had, and for a stadium of 81,000, it was incredibly efficient.
Now, you might be asking "Alex, what on Earth does this have to do with KC sports/Arrowhead like it says in the title?" Let me explain. Arrowhead, compared to every other stadium in the NFL, is (and I truly hate to say it) one of the more disorganized and poorly ran stadiums. It's not terrible, but it's certainly not good. This is not me being a Karen, it's me in my stadium nerd form being critical of a stadium that deserves some critiquing, in order to save a stadium I truly, deeply love. You see, Arrowhead is in danger. The lease on the lot Arrowhead is on is due in 2031, and it's being discussed that there may be a new stadium in the future. This means the loudest stadium in the world, may be no more here in less than 10 years. The legacy will still be there, and franchises do move stadiums naturally, but demoing Arrowhead, a cathedral of football, seems so incredibly wrong to me.
You may ask what there is to do, if you are an Arrowhead fan like me, to save the stadium. This is the purpose of this series, and after visiting Lambeau, one of the first things I would like to address in this series is Arrowhead's efficiency. Arrowhead needs to improve their processes and facilities in order to save itself. Adopting things such as more organized lines at concessions and ticketing, maintaining modern plumbing and clean bathrooms, pricing concessions at a reasonable amount and providing quality, hiring plentiful competent staff, and overall just improving that much more on the stadium experience could very well save Arrowhead. People won't yearn for a new stadium if you run with efficiency, convenience, and modernism, and not like Arrowhead's is horrible, but it's ranked below average. Arrowhead is a stadium of 79,000 and is a raucous crowd, but if a stadium of 81,000 with close to just as passionate of fans can improve their processes and facilities to live for 65 years in the bitter frozen tundra, Arrowhead can too to live on as one of the most storied venues in football and in sport.
Again, this series will discuss Arrowhead's potential fate and what the people who either love or hate Arrowhead have to say about it. I welcome your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Let me know what you'd want talked about in terms of this topic, give your thoughts on the matters discussed, and engage with this with an open-minded view. Let's hear what Chiefs Kingdom has to say on the matter, and who knows, maybe it preserves not only the legacy of an iconic stadium, but even preserves the stadium itself.
Burn Notice: 10/10 Chiefs' fans burning passions
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