Why KC Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt would have loved what’s in store at Arrowhead
Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt would have been thrilled with what’s coming to Arrowhead.
Hunt, who died in 2006, fell in love with soccer while watching the 1966 World Cup championship, was a principal founder of two professional soccer leagues and is enshrined in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Plus, Hunt, the father of Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, worked diligently to bring major college football to Kansas City.
Over the next two years, both sports will have a major presence in KC.
On Sunday, Kansas City learned it will be the site of six 2026 FIFA World Cup games, including a quarterfinal. The Chiefs, Sporting KC and the Kansas City Sports Commission led the charge to bring the world’s largest event to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and they were delighted with the schedule.
“It’s another example of a trend we are on as a city,” Chiefs president Mark Donovan said Monday night. “I don’t think anybody in the U.S soccer world thought we’d get what we got. If you look back four years ago, I don’t think anybody thought we’d get a World Cup. Now we get six (matches)?
“It’s the iconic venue, and it’s Lamar’s dedication to soccer.”
For the World Cup, the Chiefs will remove some rows of seats from the stadium’s north side to accommodate the size of a soccer pitch. The team will use modular seating there in 2025 and perhaps 2026.
Before soccer, college football comes to Arrowhead. Kansas will play its Big 12 schedule, four games, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead next season while David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is undergoing major renovations.
From 1998 to 2015, Arrowhead was home to 18 major college football games, including five Big 12 championships and five Border Showdown games between Missouri and Kansas. The first of those games drew more than 80,000 fans.
With KU playing there on Sept. 28 (against TCU), Oct. 19 (Houston), Nov. 9 (Iowa State) and Nov. 23 (Colorado), the Chiefs would prefer to not play at home the day after a college game.
