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04-13-2013, 06:47 PM | |
The Boom Boom Room
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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. |
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04-14-2013, 06:33 AM | #46 | |
In Search of a Life
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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. |
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04-14-2013, 06:48 AM | #47 |
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04-14-2013, 06:55 AM | #48 |
King of Sarcasm
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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.
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04-14-2013, 07:11 AM | #49 | |
In Search of a Life
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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. |
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04-14-2013, 07:20 AM | #50 |
King of Sarcasm
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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.
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04-14-2013, 07:34 AM | #51 | |
Texting Ms. Dobbs
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04-14-2013, 07:38 AM | #52 |
Spiraling down the Drain
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Winning cures all.
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04-14-2013, 07:41 AM | #53 | |
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I don't want platitudes while the organization throws out a strategy to get the team back to 8-8
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04-14-2013, 07:53 AM | #54 |
Diablo Negro
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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?
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. |
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04-14-2013, 08:01 AM | #55 | |
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Which do you think is going to be a priority with them? |
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04-14-2013, 08:05 AM | #56 | |
In Search of a Life
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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. |
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04-14-2013, 08:13 AM | #57 |
Happy, Happy, Happy!!!
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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.
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04-14-2013, 08:15 AM | #58 | |
Diablo Negro
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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. |
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04-14-2013, 08:21 AM | #59 |
MVP
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Bring back the PRRRRRRRRRICE CHOPPER commercials. The Hy-Vee elevator music- ***** right 53 times sucked the penis.
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04-14-2013, 08:22 AM | #60 |
In Search of a Life
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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.
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