Babb: Chiefs losing younger fans

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs losing younger fans
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

They were on the road before the sun was up, on the way to see a team fighting for more than victories.

It’s two hours before kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs’ final home game of 2009. Four young friends left Springfield at 4 a.m. on this day, two of the boys bundled in Cleveland Browns clothing. They gave up on the Chiefs years ago. The two wearing Chiefs jerseys are hanging on, but they’d give up their loyalty if the mood hit just right.

“I used to like them,” says 11-year-old Griffin Berry, wearing a No. 32 Chiefs jersey. “This is just something that was for sale.”

Young Griffin says it’s not easy being a Chiefs fan, all the losing trying to relate to a roster filled with unrecognizable players. Another friend in Kansas City colors, 11-year-old Tyler Tindle, says he actually prefers the Minnesota Vikings. Better players. Better record. If the Vikings were playing at Arrowhead today, Tyler admits, he wouldn’t be wearing red.

“There’s not any excitement,” Tyler says of the Chiefs.

The boys continue the debate in a cold parking lot, the signals growing that the Chiefs are fighting a losing battle. As Kansas City crowds lose interest, season-ticket holders vow to save their money, and home viewers look to see what else is on, there’s a forgotten section of a population growing fed up with the Chiefs: Young Chiefs fans, ages 6 to 12, are tomorrow’s nucleus. And many of them are turning to college sports or other NFL teams while the Chiefs pile one losing season on top of another.

With three consecutive losing seasons, playoffs hardly a consideration, and the team likely finishing its first season without a Pro Bowler since 1978, the years keep passing without the Chiefs holding up their end of a relationship with a tested fan base. As time passes, some youngsters are at an age in which they’ll establish lifelong allegiances to a team. If the franchise doesn’t correct its course soon, it’s in danger of losing an entire generation of Chiefs fans.

“When I was a kid, it was all about the Chiefs,” says Ted Roeland, who coaches the fifth-grade football team at the St. Ann School in Prairie Village. “But I can tell you right now that, of all the kids that we coach, you rarely see at practice a Chiefs T-shirt or Chiefs jersey.”

The worry is real enough that the Chiefs are investing time, energy and money in new ways to keep young fans interested. That’s not easy, and the competition is fierce. With the Internet, video games, frequently available NFL alternatives, and a fertile nest of college sports on both sides of State Line Road, today’s youth are exposed to enough ways to occupy their minds and feed their sports fixes that they have no patience to wait on the Chiefs.

It’s a battle the team cannot afford to lose. Most kids don’t spend their own money on tickets or merchandise, but they will in the future. The Chiefs don’t want local dollars going elsewhere and loyalties dissolving; after all, today’s 11-year-old is tomorrow’s season-ticket holder.

That’s why the team hired Mark Donovan, an Ivy League marketing man who has worked for the NFL league office and the Philadelphia Eagles, to try and find new ways to appeal to youngsters. He learned while with the league that a vast majority of young sports fans choose a favorite team from the ages of 6 to 10. At some point during those years, each youngster will come to a crossroads, decide to align with a team, and hang onto that team for as long as they follow sports.

That’s a tight window for any NFL franchise, but Donovan might never have faced a challenge like he’ll have in Kansas City. And the team’s vice president and chief operating officer, hired this past May, knows he doesn’t have the luxury of time.

“Yeah, I want to sell tickets,” Donovan says in his third-floor office at Chiefs headquarters, “and I want to generate ratings and everything else. But I want to create a connection with that fan that doesn’t change. The earlier I can do it, the better.”

That’s why Donovan doesn’t limit his research to focus groups and studies. He says he likes to keep an eye always on tomorrow, so he pays attention when his 7-year-old son, Luke, surfs the Internet. He observes when he visits with his son’s classmates or accompanies young Luke to a birthday party. He wants to know what gets the youngsters’ attention, but more he wants to know what keeps it and why.

Donovan sees everyone at Arrowhead and within the metro area as either a fan or a potential fan. He says he believes the fans, at least those who have reached adulthood, are locked in. For better or worse, they have made their decision and are Chiefs fans for the long haul.

“That fan base,” Donovan says, “we think we’re going to keep.”

But the other group, the potential fan, requires more work — especially now. The Chiefs have won nine games in the past three seasons, and they possess no superstar player, and those factors force Donovan to lead a business side of a franchise swimming against a strengthening current.

Donovan says the Chiefs’ outreach efforts hinge on points of contact, introductions to the team that, if nothing else, will pique a youngster’s interest. Perhaps it’ll be enough that he or she might want to someday attend a game someday or visit training camp, which will be held in St. Joseph beginning next summer.

Donovan’s plan is that that mild interest will gradually grow, fueled by more points of contact, and eventually that young fan will be interested enough to buy season tickets for his or her family. The youngsters from Springfield might not be the most devoted Chiefs fans, but that they’re heading into Arrowhead is working into Donovan’s plan.

One of the friends says his loyalty might have been challenged, but it could be reaffirmed.

“If they were better,” 10-year-old Quintin Gonzales says, “I’d like them a little bit more. I like exciting stuff.”

Donovan says plans are in order for a Chiefs “sports lab,” a display at Arrowhead that will open next August and be geared toward children, as well as discussions for a Web site and Chiefs television show aimed at youngsters.

“There are investments we are making today that are going to pay off down the road,” he says. “If we’re not doing that well on the field, it’s a stadium experience. I want to be able to say, ‘Hey, that was really cool. I got to see Bobby Bell’s uniform and his helmet and his bust and his Hall of Fame jacket. The Chiefs lost that day, but it was a great experience, and I’ll go back.’ ”

That’s Donovan’s hope, anyway. While those plans are made into reality, kids’ attention spans are a constant battleground. Roeland, the youth football coach, says that although he grew up watching the declining Chiefs of the 1970s and had little connection to the last ugly chapter in the team’s history, Kansas City’s return to respectability in the 1990s turned Roeland into a season-ticket holder and longtime fan.

But Roeland’s generation had no Internet, and satellite television didn’t offer a dozen NFL games each week. Today’s youngsters have those distractions, as well as stores that carry Chiefs merchandise, yes, but also the easier-to-move jerseys with Chargers, Cowboys and Steelers logos on them.

Kansas City’s youth has options, and that’s not good for the Chiefs.

“Everybody wants to be a part of a winner,” Roeland says.

Perhaps it is as simple as that, and once the Chiefs start winning again, whenever that might happen, the fans will be there like always. Maybe youngsters will grow into Chiefs fans because that’s the local pro team, or because their daddy and their daddy’s daddy was a Chiefs fan — whether the times were good, bad or depressing. That’s what the face of the franchise believes, anyway, whether it’s reality or wishful thinking.

“If you win ballgames,” quarterback Matt Cassel says, “a lot of that takes care of itself.”

Maybe he’s right. The Chiefs aren’t taking chances, though. Donovan says the team can’t afford to gamble with a generation that will determine the team’s financial future — but already has begun distancing itself.

“If we can win games,” Donovan says, “if we can have stars be successful, we’ll get more of those (fans), and we’ll activate our core even more. It’s reaching out to that bigger, broader audience.

“The successful teams in this league are the ones that are always thinking that way.”

Back in the Arrowhead parking lot, the four boys from Springfield are easing toward the stadium’s entrance. They’ll stop at a merchandise stand and at least look at the Chiefs stuff.

“I just like coming to the games,” says Griffin, one of the 11-year-olds.

If the Chiefs’ plan works, that at least gives them a chance. For now, that might be about the best they can hope for.

[luv]

There are Browns fans in Springfield?

[luv]

Also, I feel sorry for anyone trying to market this team right now. Talk about a tough sell.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by luv

Also, I feel sorry for anyone trying to market this team right now. Talk about a tough sell.

You actually read that article?

I lost interest by the third sentence.

An article this long dedicated to an obvious side effect of piss poor play and consistent losing is simply a waste of space.

[luv]

Originally Posted by milkman

You actually read that article?

I lost interest by the third sentence.

An article this long dedicated to an obvious side effect of piss poor play and consistent losing is simply a waste of space.

I skimmed it. Something about four boys from Springfield, a fifth grade football coach from Prairie Village, and a little bit on some guy that works at Arrowhead trying to sell tickets.

[Frazod]

Shit, they're losing everybody. For years I lived and died (mostly died) with these bastards. Now they're a distant third in interest behind Mizzou and the Cardinals, both of whom actually WIN once in a while.

Seriously, why would anybody without a history with these useless ****s care about them?

[luv]

Originally Posted by frazod

Shit, they're losing everybody. For years I lived and died (mostly died) with these bastards. Now they're a distant third in interest behind Mizzou and the Cardinals, both of whom actually WIN once in a while.

Seriously, why would anybody without a history with these useless ****s care about them?

Low times make you appreciate the high times so much more. I keep hearing about the Chiefs of the 90's. I want to watch this team develop into that and be able to say I never lost hope.

[chiefbowe82]

bring back marty

[chiefbowe82]

Originally Posted by luv

Low times make you appreciate the high times so much more. I keep hearing about the Chiefs of the 90's. I want to watch this team develop into that and be able to say I never lost hope.

I would rep you for a courageous post but you helped a few others put me in red. So it wouldn't mean much

[KCbroncoHATER]

Babble did his part by chasing our starting running back out of town.

He is a d-bag in my book.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefbowe82

bring back marty

Uh...Go **** yourself.

How about we bring in a coach that knows how to win, not only in the regular season, but the postseason as well.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by KCbroncoHATER

Babble did his part by chasing our starting running back out of town.

He is a d-bag in my book.

And you are a ****ing moron of such epic proportions that I can't begin to give your epic moronacy justice with words.

[luv]

Originally Posted by KCbroncoHATER

Babble did his part by chasing our starting running back out of town.

He is a d-bag in my book.

Wait, you're talking about LJ?

[chiefbowe82]

Originally Posted by milkman

Uh...Go **** yourself.

How about we bring in a coach that knows how to win, not only in the regular season, but the postseason as well.

classy as usual. uh..... right now i'm focused on building a football team

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by chiefbowe82

bring back marty

That might happen, Marty is coaching the East-West Shrine Bowl this year. Their is the added fact that Marty is very close to the Hunt family that Clark probably considers him as his " fail safe" HC option. IMO this actually might happen when the offseason hits with the rumored displeasure that Clark has with Haley as the catalyst.