Chiefs Hunt outlines changes the Chiefs are making to get the red back in Arrowhead - Page 9

**Tribal Warfare** · 04-13-2013, 06:47 PM

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.

**RealSNR** · 04-14-2013, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Oh, look a thread about the Chiefs' front office changes they're considering to try and make the overall fan experience better. Nothing to do with the players, the draft, or anything like that. I wonder...

Yep. Completely overrun with Alex vs. Geno BS like very other thread. Not sure why I even consider this place worth reading for Chiefs news anymore.

You seem upset.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 04-14-2013, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

The Alex Smith move is ONLY bad if they commit to him as a long-term QB. And we don't know that yet. If it's a short-term move and it helps get the Chiefs winning games again, then I don't care about trade comp.

Okay, if they wanted Alex, so be it. But SNR is right and Marcellus is WAY wrong. NO ONE was "clamoring" for Alex ****ing Smith, so lets put that bullshit to rest RIGHT now. That said, I'm pretty much over the "do it just to do it"-trip because as much as I like Geno, I can acknowledge the fact that we're at least two years with Alice, and there very well could be a better guy down the road. AND, I have faith based on, and in spite of, even fatboy's stupid man-crush track-record, that they WILL pull the trigger when that guy hits. These guys, Dorsey in particular, are NOT goddamned fools or egomaniacs. Passionate, yes. Peeholis, no. In the end, I trust John Dorsey to build a kick-ass team, and I trust Reid to either fail or succeed COACHING it. Period. If Reid fails, he can go. But we need to ride with Dorsey for at least five years. I don't know how instrumental he was in GB, but if even HALF the talent acquisitions they made have his stamp on them, we are good to ****ing GO.
Posted via Mobile Device

penbrook · 04-14-2013, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Dick Willie

Okay, if they wanted Alex, so be it. But SNR is right and Marcellus is WAY wrong. NO ONE was "clamoring" for Alex ****ing Smith, so lets put that bullshit to rest RIGHT now. That said, I'm pretty much over the "do it just to do it"-trip because as much as I like Geno, I can acknowledge the fact that we're at least two years with Alice, and there very well could be a better guy down the road. AND, I have faith based on, and in spite of, even fatboy's stupid man-crush track-record, that they WILL pull the trigger when that guy hits. These guys, Dorsey in particular, are NOT goddamned fools or egomaniacs. Passionate, yes. Peeholis, no. In the end, I trust John Dorsey to build a kick-ass team, and I trust Reid to either fail or succeed COACHING it. Period. If Reid fails, he can go. But we need to ride with Dorsey for at least five years. I don't know how instrumental he was in GB, but if even HALF the talent acquisitions they made have his stamp on them, we are good to ****ing GO.
Posted via Mobile Device

Geno to KC will is alive and well and cime draft day the Choco Penii will be ours.

lcarus · 04-14-2013, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

My point is just that's ALL some of you guys will talk about anymore. It's making Chiefs talk on this site boring as hell to read.

I'm hoping when draft day arrives the football talk will come back in full force.

Rasputin · 04-14-2013, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

We have suffered through a 6 season stretch that has given us 4 top five picks and after the 2013 draft, we STILL won't have drafted a quarterback.The team just had the worst season in franchise history and we are supposed to be excited about season tickets being harder to sell if the team is terrible again?

Calm down, everyone...your cell phones will work at the stadium now!!!

Woohoo

I'm not gonna act excited about things till there is something to be excited for and it looks like that may be awhile.

This part makes my head spin. It's bad enough we go 30 years with out a first round quarterback, but being in the top 5 picks four out of the last 6 years with out picking a ****ing quarterback is just mind blowing.

**Easy 6** · 04-21-2013, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

Hunt gets it. Good on Clark.

I agree.

The continuing Clark hate, or at this point maybe derision is a better word, is played out.

Yes, winning is the only stat that truly matters in the end, but those who say he's not trying, not swinging for the fence every chance he gets... are plain old wrong.

He cares, he listens and he takes drastic actions... i'm sure the changes listed here are just the beginning.

I'll never forget the pic of him pulling up at Arrowhead with Reid in the passenger seat, he looked like the biggest nerd in high school pulling up at prom with the hottest chick in town in tow, beaming from ear to ear... i couldnt be happier that he's our owner.

**J Diddy** · 04-21-2013, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

This part makes my head spin. It's bad enough we go 30 years with out a first round quarterback, but being in the top 5 picks four out of the last 6 years with out picking a ****ing quarterback is just mind blowing.

people shouldn't post animated pics without some tags to make them go away.

boogblaster · 04-21-2013, 01:01 PM

the ride is rough .....

TEX · 04-21-2013, 01:25 PM

**** SCOTT ***** and EVERYTHING that is the "Patriot Way!" He was the worst Front Office hire the NFL has seen since Matt Millen, and it's debateable who was worse.

Hammock Parties · 04-21-2013, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

I agree.

The continuing Clark hate, or at this point maybe derision is a better word, is played out.

Yes, winning is the only stat that truly matters in the end, but those who say he's not trying, not swinging for the fence every chance he gets... are plain old wrong.

He cares, he listens and he takes drastic actions... i'm sure the changes listed here are just the beginning.

I'll never forget the pic of him pulling up at Arrowhead with Reid in the passenger seat, he looked like the biggest nerd in high school pulling up at prom with the hottest chick in town in tow, beaming from ear to ear... i couldnt be happier that he's our owner.

If we don't have a 1st round QB or a playoff win in the next five years, Clark Hunt needs to turn the reins over to someone else.

We need an owner with some balls who will demand a 1st round QB.

**Easy 6** · 04-21-2013, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonton Prejudice

If we don't have a 1st round QB or a playoff win in the next five years, Clark Hunt needs to turn the reins over to someone else.

We need an owner with some balls who will demand a 1st round QB.

In all sincerity, i'd bet my membership here that one or both of those happens looong before we hit the five year mark.

chiefzilla1501 · 04-21-2013, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonton Prejudice

If we don't have a 1st round QB or a playoff win in the next five years, Clark Hunt needs to turn the reins over to someone else.

We need an owner with some balls who will demand a 1st round QB.

Given the kind of QB class we have this year, I don't think it's a terrible thing if we get a 2A pick and use that pick on a QB. Is it optimal? No. But it's very possible that Dorsey and/or Reid really like a QB in this area and know they can wait to get him.

BlackHelicopters · 04-21-2013, 04:28 PM

Is winning games part of the changes at Camarohead?

**OnTheWarpath15** · 04-21-2013, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonton Prejudice

If we don't have a 1st round QB or a playoff win in the next five years, Clark Hunt needs to turn the reins over to someone else.

We need an owner with some balls who will demand a 1st round QB.

In all honesty, that should have been the case when you-know-who was hired.

Funny how the guy makes this huge production out of wanting to draft and develop a franchise QB, then hires guys who piss away the two most valuable R2 picks in franchise history on game managers.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 04-21-2013, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Is winning playoff games part of the changes at Camarohead?

FYP.

04-13-2013, 06:47 PM
Tribal Warfare The Boom Boom Room Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $812813	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.
Posts: 42,112

04-21-2013, 01:01 PM	#128
boogblaster MVP Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Verdigris Valley Campsite Casino cash: $10004900	the ride is rough ..... __________________ WR or S please
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04-21-2013, 01:25 PM	#129
TEX Out Gunning CP's Fandom Police Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Laguna Beach, CA Casino cash: $2263127	** SCOTT * and EVERYTHING that is the "Patriot Way!" He was the worst Front Office hire the NFL has seen since Matt Millen, and it's debateable who was worse. __________________ "The CHIEFS, HAVE THEIR DYNASTY!"**
Posts: 34,718

04-21-2013, 04:28 PM	#133
BlackHelicopters Spiraling down the Drain Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Dante's Ninth Circle Casino cash: $2610588	Is winning games part of the changes at Camarohead? __________________ "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator, but never think it applies to my family." "Fredo. You are my brother, and I love you. But never take sides against the Family again. Ever." 2019 Adopt a Chief - Travis Kelce #87
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