Hunt outlines changes the Chiefs are making to get the red back in Arrowhead
 

Chiefs owner outlines changes to get the red back in Arrowhead
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Clark Hunt is sitting at a small table in his enormous suite at Arrowhead Stadium, hands in his lap, his voice steady and professional. But really, he may as well be standing in front of you all, arms outstretched, his words as sweet as he’s capable of making them sound:

Hug?

The Chiefs owner is here, talking to you, emphasizing a philosophy shift in the franchise he holds so dear. Hunt wants you to expect something very different from the Chiefs you came to know in recent years. Some of what he is doing sounds very cool for fans, some of it will help the team make more money. Some of it will do both.

Hunt knows it won’t mean much if the team doesn’t win, but while the new football men he hired work on that part, it’s significant that the man who took so much heat last year — taunting banners flying over the stadium, nasty name-calling, stacks of angry letters — is extending a hand.

“Certainly the football side of the Chiefs the last four years was more guarded in how information was shared externally,” he says. “There’s still teams in the league that operate like that, but what I’ve seen in the last 12 months, attending ownership meetings and being on the digital committee, is an understanding that, hey, the model is shifting and we have to be more open.”

Hunt is doing everything he can to make sure the hiring of coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey is the end to a brutal four-year run marked by arrogance and detachment, bottoming out with a 2-14 thud last season that made Arrowhead quiet and fans wearing bags on their heads.

Hunt won’t blame the problems on anyone. He doesn’t bring up any names. But when Scott ***** was hired and given total football control four years ago, he brought a hyper-secretive and isolated style that — especially as the losses piled up — turned off many loyal fans.

But it was more than just losing that turned off many fans, so Hunt and club president Mark Donovan know that more than just winning is needed to bring them back. Consumers fans — have more power and more options than ever, so everyone lost with that old model. The Chiefs had empty seats, quiet or booing crowds, and fans who felt pushed away to prove it.

That’s not how the Chiefs became Kansas City’s passion. That’s not how they became a wildly profitable business.

Without a strong sense of connection, many fans drifted, and the Chiefs are now trying to woo them back with gifts and technology. The Chiefs were the first NFL team to use paperless tickets last year, and going forward, this is will be their vehicle of choice.

“Really, we want the experience with our fan base to be one where they’re an insider,” Hunt says. “Where they feel like an insider. Where they’re getting to see things, and hear things, and learn things that people generally don’t have an opportunity to do.”

The key to this is the season-ticketholder card the Chiefs created last year. Paperless tickets make it easier for fans to transfer seats or replace lost items. Now the club is adding a loyalty program that is part Foursquare, part frequent flier account and the first of its kind in the NFL.

The buzzword here is value. Part of winning back fans is to create more value in that card than mere admittance to the stadium. For instance, go to team events like next week’s draft party, and you’ll earn points. Show your card at various club sponsors and you’ll receive a discount. You get the idea.

Collect enough points and you can “buy” experiences that otherwise aren’t for sale, like pregame sideline passes or dinner with Reid.

The card is also important to the Chiefs, because they can gather data. Scanning those cards tells them all sorts of information — how early you arrive at the stadium, what you buy when you’re there, how often you attend club events during the week, etc.

You can look at this part in two ways. The Chiefs can use the information to maximize their profits (when and how to better staff the stadium, for instance) or to improve the efficiency of a fan’s game day experience. Both are true.

All NFL teams are working to bring fans into their stadiums instead of having them home on their couches. There are league-wide initiatives, like certain replays in the stadium that aren’t shown at home, and the Chiefs are working on other ways to enhance the stadium experience — cameras following players from their cars to the locker room, better cell phone reception, more fantasy football stats, etc.

This is all coming at a crucial time for the Chiefs. They still call Arrowhead “the loudest stadium in the NFL,” but that has been more of an outdated reminder of better times than an honest point of pride in recent years. They have fallen behind.

Again, the best way to change that is for the Chiefs to win. But fans have been disappointed by far more than losses in recent years. Heck, the Chiefs still haven’t won a playoff game since January 1994 so this isn’t a front-running fan base. Just one that wants to feel their love reciprocated.

The Chiefs think this is the way. They’re trying to replace the disconnect of the past four years with something closer to the party of the 1990s — and they’re doing it with the latest technology and a more open philosophy.

In other words, they want you back. And they’re changing to do it.

I want to bring in my own chicken wings and necks.

Moar drafted quarterbacks

$3 beer would help.

They could quit trading away draft picks for shitty quarterbacks would be a nice change to start with.

Yeah, the Chiefs were near the bottom of engagement of fans. I sent this to Clark 5 or 6 months ago. LOL. I know he opened it, too... due to pixel tracking. Good to see them embracing the changes.

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Talk is cheap.
We're watching Clark

How about draft a quarterback people would want to pay to watch play.

Have some shows hosted by players.

Bring back the player foundations.

Those would be a refreshing course of action.

I didn't read one damn line of that.

Here's the outline, Clark:

1) Win

That. We don't give a shit about e-tickets, or accumulating points for stupid events. Win. That's all we care about. You win, and you could do all the stupid shit you want.

He showed you the philosophy he wants: 8-8. Do whatever you can to tease fans with the possibility of the playoffs and they'll come, despite that the moves will never result in success in the playoffs.

That and have good wifi in the stadium. AH is a ****ing dead zone

clark's idea of gushing information;

"We've narrowed it down to four guys" for the past 2 months

Hunt gets it. Good on Clark.

They better do something about filling the gold seats in the middle ring around the stadium that is 75% empty every time they show it on TV. That looks sorry.

I found my sweet seat and that ain't it.

Eric Winston with a spear vs 22 hungry man eating lions would please the crowd.

He doesn't get anything if they don't do things like draft a QBotf for future hopes to build a winning franchise with. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.

Build a winning football team. They will come.

I agree, he is trying to show the fans he cares.

I know everyone wants to see the W's and I do just as much as anyone. This marks my 40th year as a very loyal committed Chief fan. But he hired people for the football side of it, he decided he didn't want to be JJ (at least not to that extent).

So he is working on other things. And yes, it is a business.

Lower the ****ing price on them would be a good start. :)

It kills the atmosphere too.

Let's see, they brought in yet another in a long line of shitty backup QB's to save the franchise which everyone knows doesn't work. Unless they are lowering the exhorbitant ticket, parking and concession prices, I don't see any thing better for the fans.

Mellinger sure is getting off on calling us "nasty" since the movement ended.

"No, no, Mr. Hunt, I had nothing to do with those nasty fans."

If this rewards program would have been around when Pioli was GM, a certain number of points would earn you a free clue.

I also noticed that.

Mellinger never was very helpful to the SOC movement. When he wrote about it, he didn't really ever back it. It was just his reporting that brought attention to it, and his kind of "WOAH these people sure are pissed!" attitude that he couldn't help but sneak in.

I also didn't care for his weekly "WOW THE CHIEFS SURE DO SUCK" columns. No ****ing shit, Sam. Tell us something we don't know. You already said they historically suck last week. Give us something different you hack.

Clark has shown us how much he cares about this team the last 4 years.

Bringing in the best GM candidate on the market 4 years ago and now bringing in the best and most proven coaching candidate along with a highly touted GM once again shows he wants the best qualified people to run the franchise.

The QB situation has nothing to do with Clark.

Column should be retitled "Hunt wants the Chiefs to get out of the red."

Not sure if it's changed or not, but it wasn't just the price that turned me away from ordering some of those seats not too long ago...it was that they required fans to sign a contract that forced them to have a commitment to those seats for 3 years.

If he wants to fill those seats (as well as the luxury boxes he built with the renovation) big money people are gonna have to have a star quarterback to root for.

...into something more comfortable...


Gay.

The contractual obligation isn't horrible, considering it's a somewhat short length (at least compared to the whole PSL shit).

When the season ticket sales report comes out this fall, Hunt will turn down the lights, turn up his his stereo, and get really turned on as he dances with a mannequin in a Chiefs jersey to "Lady in Red."

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Geno will be sacking groceries in 5 years. Wake up.

Winning will bring the fans back and fill Arrowhead again... it is pretty simple.

Being "nice" is just something buy you a little leeway if you don't win.

Probably not a horrible idea I guess.

Pioli would probably still be here if he wasn't such a dick.

Still confused as to why people directly blame Clark for not having a first round QB? It's not his doing. He doesn't draft them. The coach and GM does that.

I'm sure Clark told Andy and Dorsey that he would like a first round QB, but you don't tell people who you just hired how to do their jobs. That tends to circulate around the league and you end up getting a shit reputation like Scott Pioli.

because we've had GM's wanting to draft a qb and the BIG man said it wasn't worth the risk. That is why we always draft Dlineman. Safe pick

We've had GM's that wanted to take a QB in the first round? News to me.

And bring back the long troths in the mens rooms. This isn't the Bellagio, it's Arrowhead. I know I always felt like I was probably going to get hepatitis and it smelled like a piss bank in there, but it was MY piss bank and hepatitis. I cherished it.

We here at the planet are a minority.

This team only need field a competitive team to entice the regular fan back to the stadium.

Yep. "heck, the Chiefs haven't even won a playoff game since 1994". "The fanbase just wants its love reciprocated"! Really? Is that all we're in this for? What a pile of shit.
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We almost drafted Brady Quinn in the first round.

Dlineman, the Chiefs have proven this is NOT a safe pick, not at all.

It's sad that the team only needs to be. 8-8 or 9-7 for the majority of the fan base.

this is a start.

Not really, I talk to everyone as civil as possible because that's what I do in real life.

What Milkman and Hamas brought up is true. That fact falls on deaf ears on this board more time than not but the constant crying for Geno or other extreme negative thoughts are a vocal minority in the grand scheme of things when it comes to the Chiefs Kingdom.

Most Chiefs fans (true fans) want the feeling of being loved and interaction with the organization (which was completely lost with *****). They want the feeling of what they had in the 90's. Just being around .500 or a little better would fill Arrowhead back up to sell-out status. Clark knows this, he has seen the blue print for this fanbase.

I know that doesn't sit well at all with many on this board but that is just the way things are in KC. Most of the fanbase could give a rats what method of selection it took to get that QB to KC. Just win me some games, give me a great atmosphere, let us interact with the players (charity events and radio gigs) and make me feel loved is all they want.

This is a really good thing. The Chiefs need to start winning again and winning back the true fans. Much as we hate true fans, they keep Arrowhead packed and loud.

I don't care if they traded for Smith so they can start winning the fans back again. I only care if they settle for him, vs. a still relentless search for a QB. It also doesn't matter to me if they skip over Geno or a QB in round 1, but if they do, they damn well better be right.

yep

Sorry Clark,

You traded for yet another dumbass QB from Frisco. You did this so many times that your fans have given up on your team. Your team is a joke and you overpaid the 49ers to get there. I can't take this mess seriously.

I think you're assuming Chiefs Planet thinks the same way true fans do. True fans are the way to packing Arrowhead. Sad but true. True fans will support this team in droves when they start winning again and when the team opens up access to the fans again.

I hope, like all of us on CP do, that the team doesn't settle for that being good enough. I don't think Dorsey works that way.

Given the huge price they paid for that slapdick, they are going to have to stand by this move even if it means they use a crowbar to force him on the fans. This is Grbac/Cassel all over again. You would think Clark would be smart enough to veto this idea. He has been through this before and knows it doesn't work.

+1

Winning cures all.

I don't want platitudes while the organization throws out a strategy to get the team back to 8-8

I love it. The CP braintrust has concluded the Reid and Dorsey have no intention of winning a SB, all they are here to do is get to 8-8 and sell Clark tickets. Its not about winning to them is it? I mean hey its only their careers on the line right?

LMAO


You all are basically once again saying Clark told them not to draft a QB because that is the only outlier in the new regime that has you guys crying and whining and Clark is the root case according to you all.

It couldn't be that this QB class sucks ass and Alex Smith is a stop gap until the QBOTF is found. I mean neither Reid or Dorsey have a history of drafting QB's right?

Clark has spent a boatload of money to get back to 8-8. That's a genius business model.

You guys are really really full of yourselves these days.

Their careers aren't on the line if they don't win a SB. However, their careers WILL be on the line if they can't at least go 8-8 and sell tickets.

Which do you think is going to be a priority with them?

We haven't even had a draft yet. We are in the first few months of a new regime. We haven't seen if they actually think Alex Smith is a long-term answer. Given Reid and Dorsey's history, we will constantly bring in new young QBs to groom.

I am not at all endorsing anything they've done this offseason. But it's way too soon to freak out about it. They can build a team to win now while making great moves that make them long-term competitive within a few years.

Bingo but many are so damn narrow minded they just think of drafting a QB in the first round will solve all problems. Sure it would be great if there was a legit franchise QB to take at #1.

I think people have lost their ****ing minds is what I think.

There is a distinct difference between believing the moves the Chiefs are making will only get them to 8-8 and believing that that is their goal and everyone in the organization would be happy with that.

I have no issue with anyone believing that 8-8 or 9-7 is this teams ceiling with Alex Smith.

I think if you believe that's the plan and goal you are an idiot who thinks way too highly of your own opinion when it comes to football.

And that is what many people are claiming. Its ludicrous.

Bring back the PRRRRRRRRRICE CHOPPER commercials. The Hy-Vee elevator music- ***** right 53 times sucked the penis.

Just winning may not be enough. Team went 10-6 in 2010, and IIRC the place wasn't packed even late in the season with the playoffs on the line. And I don't believe that 10-6 season parlayed into a rush on people buying season tickets in 2011.

Hmmm. You didn't really answer my question.

Look, I'm sure they'd love to win a SB, but I don't believe that it's a priority for them or any other coach/GM in the league. Their main concern is keeping their jobs for as long as possible. If they happen to win a SB along the way, that's great. If not, oh well, we all made a shit ton of money.

2010 was rough for a lot of folk$.

Agreed. What kills me is how they KNOW xWhats going to happen and how they KNOW that the new regime only wants to go 8-8 and their goal isn't to go to SB. They KNOW everything.

No one KNOWS shit. They may be right, they may not. But to even for a one second think that it's more important to be mediocre than win it all is ridiculous. Everyone wants to win a SB. From the owner, to the GM, to the water boy, to the fans. Everyone wants to wina championship. 8-8 isn't enough for anyone, although to may be what we a looking at next year. But, I don't think anyone's goal is to continue to be 8-8.

Smith is a stop gap for the moment, until he proves otherwise, and I can't imagine this FO not drafting a QB once they see one they like.

Th draft hasn't happened yet. The poker hand hasn't hit the river yet.

That's true.

Andy Reid is an established coach. He didn't come to KC to go 8-8 and worry about his job, I guarantee you that.

He has his guaranteed $ wrapped up in his contract, you act like he could get fired after 2 seasons and miss out on the other 3 years worth of money. Nope he is paid one way or another.

The fact is all Reid has to focus on is winning as much as humanly possible. I dont think 8-8 is part of that plan.

Does he have the ability to push this team to a playoff win? I think so. If he doesn't it wont be because he got to 8-8 and didn't worry about anything more.

If anything the trade for Smith tells us they think they can win now. Had they drafted Geno they would have had a few years to develop him without worry of job repercussions.

Trading for Alex pushed the expectations on them right now so that blows the 8-8 job security crap off the map out the gate.

This is so sad.

Chunt thinks the way to make us love the Chiefs is to give us a plastic card to earn "Frequent Fan Points?" They want me to use a Chiefs Card like I'm shopping at CVS or Price Chopper? JFC, gimme a break. All they want to do is gather more marketing information. That's all this is. It is a cynical, calculated business move only. This proves NOTHING to me. If they really loved the STH, they wouldn't make you EARN a trip onto the sidelines. I got to do that anyway the last couple of years. I don't give a crap about having dinner with Coach Reid. It would probably be pretty disgusting anyway, watching that fat **** choke down a slab of ribs.

Every retail outlet now wants you to have "their card." They want to know what you bought, when you bought it, why you bought it, what else you might buy....buy....buy....buy.....buy.

Nothing to see here. It's same as it ever was.

I have a lot of questions about whether Reid can manage games to get a team into a Super Bowl. Never once have I questioned that the dude wants to win.

Actually, not to nitpick, but having worked on the data side of these programs, these programs are great for the business and the customer. It's a great idea and I'm glad the Chiefs are on the cutting edge. As for "earning" rewards. I love this too. If you are a devoted fan through thick and thin, more than just showing up to a few games and sitting down the entire time, than hell yeah, give them better seats and perks. I don't see any problem with rewarding fans who are most loyal to their team. Since it sounds like you are beyond a loyal fan, I'm sure you'll get some sweet perks too and your tune will change.

All these ****ers want is a swift return to Martyball. Hell, I bet that shit was even brought up in the initial meetings. "remember the good ol' days"? Etc. Oh yeah, the days we didnt win jack-shit? Oh yeah. That was ****in' grrrrrrrrrrreat! **** me.
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So... The card will monitor your ass psition to determine whether you are standing or sitting?
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Andy Reid is an offensive coach who doesn't run the ball much. I don't know what you're trying to say here. Just because the team is dialed in to going 8-8 now, does not mean they don't want to be serious winners in the future. We haven't seen good or bad what their long-term plan is.

If you are going to every home game multiple years, draft parties, Arrowhead events, etc.... more than likely you love this team, and more than likely you're the type of fan who likes to stand and get loud. Not rocket science.

Are you a mult for Reid the Red, the Chiefs current version of Baghdad Bob?

Oh, and as far as "earning rewards as a devoted fan" all I can tell you is my family has had season tickets for 45 years. In 1993 when the Chiefs made it to the AFC Championship game, all we got from the Chiefs was a letter from Carl Peterson telling to go **** ourselves if we wanted a shot at Super Bowl Tickets. That really showed me what the Chiefs thought of our family loyalty when the rubber met the road.

So gblowfish you apparently just glossed over all the rest of the article then or picked out the one thing you wanted to rant about? From reading your post it is apparent you have a agenda and nothing will fix that... your issue, not ours.

In reality I think most fans don't care about the whole "card reward business" even though it is smart business, as much as they do with the connection and feeling like insiders aspect. The fanbase as a whole just wants to feel like what they had interaction wise back in the 90' to mid 00's (I know that whole Martyball/Grandpa Dick era pisses some of you off). Nothing less and nothing more. Sure everyone will come completely back once we start winning but don't think for a second there isn't a large portion of the fanbase that just want to feel they are a part of the franchise like they once were. By going .500 really gets most of those fans back along with the feeling of being loved/connected... I know that pisses some on this board off mightily!

For those to say Dorsey, Reid and Hunt just want to be .500 to fill Clark's pockets are insane and stupid! Those guys want to win championships as bad or probably worse than the fanbase.

No, man. I respect your opinion a lot. I am just saying I know the loyalty business and think you have a misperception of it. This is one of the few business practices that have been great for customers and fans. Because businesses that use loyalty/rewards cards build their business around what customers want, not what some executive on the 50th floor thinks customers want.

To your second point... I know you've been screwed in the past. I'm assuming the new program fixes that by actually tracking your loyalty, not just with season tickets, but also with things you do outside of Arrowhead. Maybe you'll get ****ed again. If you do, that's a damn shame.

Jesus, some of you people are dense. I'm not saying that they "want" to just go .500 and sell tickets. I'm just saying that it is their ABSOLUTE FIRST ****ING PRIORITY because they will lose their jobs if they don't. I don't doubt that they all "want" to win a SB, the question is are they willing to take the risks necessary to do that? No, nobody knows for sure yet, but right now it looks like it's business as usual at One Arrowhead Drive. Given the history of the franchise, you can't blame people for their concern early on.

I believe Hunt's first priority is business, but I also believe he has a burning desire to win a SB.

I think that is proven by the fact that in both situations that he found himself looking for football people to run the team he has gotten the top candidates for the position.

I didn't believe Scott Pioli was the right guy then, I don't believe that Reid is the right guy now.

My concern is that the football people are the wrong people.

yes

My first thought of having Andy Reid as our coach was thinking that Geno Smith would be the perfect fit. Now that we traded away our second pick for the wrong Smith am pretty much thinking like you that Andy Reid is the wrong hire. All I wanted and hoped for was drafting a QB with our first pick of the draft so we can start building a team for championships.

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BTW: NSFW....language