Kansas City Will Lose a Home Game in 2015 to London
By Jason Lisk
The NFL announced the matchups for next season’s games in London as Roger Goodell continues his attempt to force a franchise to London eventually. The games include Jacksonville-Buffalo, Miami vs. the Jets, and Kansas City vs. Detroit. The fans and season ticket holders in Kansas City, in particular, don’t seem particularly pleased with this development.
No one particularly likes Goodell’s London experiment, especially as the league has expanded the number of games to three. In the past, teams that have had attendance issues or stadium issues have been selected (or had their owners volunteer) for the game. Including next years matchups, the teams designated as hosts (and thus losing a home game) include Jacksonville (3x), Miami (2x), Tampa Bay (2x), Atlanta, Minnesota, New Orleans, Oakland, St. Louis, and San Francisco.
You’ll notice that no team from the Northeast or the Great Lakes regions has been selected as a home team to lose a game, though the owners in charge of Goodell’s “independent investigation” have been able to play a neutral site game there as visitors. The Patriots (twice), Cowboys, Steelers, Giants, Jets, Lions (twice) and Bears have all played in London, but not by using a home date.
This likely will mark the first time that a team in the top 10 in attendance the previous year will lose a home game to the International Series in London. Kansas City was 7th last year in average home attendance and is again 7th so far this year.
Last month, the NFL quietly added a condition that any future Super Bowl host must give up a home game and host a game in London once over the five year period before the game (in addition to various other absurd conditions and requests). It’s a condition that miraculously came after the two New York teams hosted. Kansas City’s chances of actually hosting a Super Bowl–even with the cold-weather restriction being lifted by the New York Super Bowl–are pretty slim. It’s more likely that Clark Hunt, as the chair of the NFL’s International Committee–took the game as part of that role.
This would be the same Clark Hunt that has a luxurious suite at Arrowhead that was completed as part of renovations in 2010. Those renovations included $250 million in public funding. While the team may claim that those suite additions were paid separately by the Chiefs, it still feels wrong. If I give you $50 because you are hungry, then you go and spend $20 more on alcohol after using that money on food, I may technically not have bought your drinks, but it sure feels like it.
Home games are a pretty big deal in Kansas City, which has sported one of the largest home field advantages over the last 30 years in the NFL. Losing a game against a quality dome team in Detroit in early November, who would otherwise have to come and play in a tough environment, is also a big competitive disadvantage.
Once again, thanks, fans, for all that you do. Now, get bent. Lord Goodell and Clark Hunt have somebody else’s money to take now.