Kansas City Chiefs
In 1959, Lamar Hunt began talking with other businessmen about creating a professional football league to rival the National Football League. Hunt's desire to secure a football team rose after watching the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts. After he tried and failed to buy the NFL's Chicago Cardinals and move the team to his hometown of Dallas, Texas, Hunt went to the NFL and asked to create an expansion franchise in Dallas. The NFL turned him down, so Hunt established the American Football League and started his own team, the Dallas Texans, to begin play in 1960. Hunt hired a little-known assistant coach from the University of Miami football team, Hank Stram, to be the team's head coach after the job offer was declined by Bud Wilkinson and Tom Landry. Don Klosterman, hired as head scout, was widely credited for luring a wealth of talent to the Texans from the NFL, often hiding players and using creative means to land them. The Texans shared the Cotton Bowl with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys for three seasons. The Texans were to have exclusive access to the stadium until the NFL put an expansion team, the Dallas Cowboys, there. While the team averaged a league-best 24,500 at the Cotton Bowl, the Texans gained less attention due to the AFL's relatively lower profile compared to the NFL's. In the franchise's first two seasons, the team managed records of 8, 6 and 6, 8. In their third season, the Texans tallied an 11, 3 record and a berth in the team's first American Football League Championship Game, against the Houston Oilers. The game was broadcast nationally on ABC and the Texans defeated the Oilers 20, 17 in double overtime. The game lasted 77 minutes and 54 seconds, setting a record for longest game in professional American football. It is still the longest championship game in American Football League history. It turned out to be the last game the team would play as the Dallas Texans. Despite competing against a Cowboys team that managed only a 9, 28, 3 record in their first three seasons, Hunt decided that the Dallas, Fort Worth media market couldn't sustain two professional football franchises. He considered moving the Texans to either Atlanta or Miami for the 1963 season. He was ultimately swayed by an offer from Kansas City Mayor Harold Roe Bartle. Bartle promised to triple the franchise's season ticket sales and expand the seating capacity of Municipal Stadium to accommodate the team. Hunt agreed to move the franchise to Kansas City on the 22nd of May 1963, and on May 26, the team was renamed the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt and head coach Hank Stram initially planned to retain the Texans name, but a fan contest determined the new "Chiefs" name in honor of Mayor Bartle's nickname that he acquired in his professional role as Scout Executive of the St. Joseph and Kansas City Boy Scout Councils, and founder of the Scouting Society, the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. Despite the historical use of Native American features, it has been acknowledged that the team's naming was not a direct reference to Native Americans but only to Bartle's nickname "Chief". Business Insider journalist Meredith Cash even stated in January 2020 that Bartle "insisted on the team being named after himself" and that "Bartle was known as Chief Lone Bear within Mic-O-Say circles, and eventually the nickname 'Chief' caught on among people throughout Kansas City." The franchise became one of the strongest teams in the now thriving American Football League, with the most playoff appearances for an AFL team (tied with the Oakland Raiders), and the most AFL Championships (three). The team's dominance helped Lamar Hunt become a central figure in negotiations with NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to agree on an AFL, NFL merger.
Since then, the Chiefs have risen to dynastic success under head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, and defensive tackle Chris Jones, appearing in five Super Bowls since 2019 and being victorious in three: LIV, LVII, and LVIII. In 2018, the Chiefs began their season with first-year starter Mahomes as their quarterback and finished the regular season with a record of 12, 4, clinching the AFC West for the third year in a row and the AFC's top seed. This included victories over division rivals Los Angeles Chargers, Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos (twice), along with important conference victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Jacksonville Jaguars. Their first loss of the season came at the hands of the New England Patriots with a last-second field goal. Their second loss of the season came against the Los Angeles Rams with a final score of 51, 54, in which the Kansas City Chiefs made history by becoming the first NFL team to lose a game after scoring more than 50 points. Mahomes finished the season with 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, both team records. He became the 11th quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards and the third to throw for 50 touchdowns. He joined Peyton Manning as only the 2nd player in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. For his performance during the season, he was named AP NFL MVP, the first Chief to ever win the award. In the AFC Divisional round on the 12th of January 2019, the Chiefs defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31, 13 to move on to the AFC Championship Game. This marked the Chiefs' first playoff win in Arrowhead Stadium in 25 years. This also enabled the Chiefs to host the AFC Championship Game for the first time ever. The next week, Kansas City's bid for its first Super Bowl berth in 49 years ended with a 37, 31 overtime loss to the New England Patriots. The Chiefs finished the 2019 regular season with a 12, 4 record, winning the AFC West division title for the fourth straight year, and clinched the AFC's second seed behind the Baltimore Ravens. The Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans 51, 31 in the AFC Divisional Game after falling behind 24, 0 at the start of the second quarter with Mahomes throwing for five touchdowns. The Chiefs hosted their second AFC Championship game in consecutive years facing the sixth-seed Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs then defeated the Titans 35, 24 and advanced to Super Bowl LIV. This marked their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years, since Super Bowl IV. On the 2nd of February 2020, in Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the Chiefs played against the NFC's top seed, the San Francisco 49ers. At halftime, the teams were tied at ten points. In the second half, Mahomes threw interceptions in back-to-back drives in the 3rd and 4th quarters, resulting in the 49ers having a 20, 10 lead with under 12 minutes remaining in the game. Sparked by a 44-yard completion to Tyreek Hill on 3rd and 15, Mahomes threw touchdowns on successive drives to Travis Kelce and Damien Williams. With a 24, 20 lead with under two minutes remaining, Williams had a 38-yard touchdown run to seal the game for the Chiefs. This marked the first time in NFL postseason history that a team faced ten-point deficits in three straight games and won all three by double-digit margins. Mahomes won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, ending the Chiefs' Super Bowl drought dating to the AFL-NFL Merger. On the 6th of July 2020, Mahomes signed a record ten-year, $503-million contract extension keeping him under contract until the conclusion of the 2031 season. The contract is the largest ever signed in North American sports, tripling the previous record (which was for a shorter 5 years, signed by Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons). With their week-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins, the Chiefs clinched their fifth consecutive division title. The victory also gave the Chiefs their first 12, 1 record in franchise history. They would later win 14 games for the first time in franchise history. In the playoffs they defeated the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills to win the AFC Championship for the second consecutive year. The Chiefs would face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, ultimately losing 9, 31, failing to score a touchdown in the game. In their 2021 season, the Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36, 10, earning the team's sixth straight AFC West title on the 26th of December 2021. The Chiefs began their playoff slate with a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, and advanced to play the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round. Their 42, 36 victory over Buffalo came in a game sports commentators and analysts dubbed as one of the greatest modern day NFL playoff games. Despite being the first team to host the AFC Championship game for four consecutive seasons, the team finished the season losing 24, 27 in overtime to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs began their 2022 season by trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins, and instead opting to stock up on picks in the 2022 NFL draft. They finished the season with a 14, 3 regular season record, with losses coming from the Colts, Bills, and Bengals. All three losses were by margins of less than four points. The Chiefs won their seventh consecutive AFC West division championship, and secured the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs. The team hosted their fifth consecutive AFC Championship Game, and second consecutive against the Cincinnati Bengals, winning 23, 20 on a game-winning field goal from Harrison Butker. In Super Bowl LVII, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38, 35 again on a field goal from Butker and two fourth-quarter touchdowns using the Corn Dog play. With the victory, Mahomes became the first player since Kurt Warner in 1999 to win both the NFL MVP Award and Super Bowl MVP Award, and lead the league in passing yards in the same season. Head coach Andy Reid won his second Super Bowl championship over the Eagles, the team he had previously led to a Super Bowl appearance. Entering the 2023 season as defending champions, the Chiefs failed to improve on their 14, 3 record from the previous season, despite this they secured their eleventh consecutive winning season and became division champions for the eighth consecutive season. Their overall record was 11, 6, their least successful record under quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In the playoffs, the Chiefs defeated the Miami Dolphins 26, 7 in the wildcard round in frigid weather. In the divisional round, the team held on to a narrow 27, 24 win over the Buffalo Bills on the road. This was the Chiefs third playoff win in four years over the Bills. They made their sixth consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance, but their first on the road, defeating the Baltimore Ravens 17, 10 to advance to their fourth Super Bowl in five years. In a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs overtime defeat of the San Francisco 49ers 25, 22 in Super Bowl LVIII moved the franchise to four Super Bowl titles, becoming the seventh franchise to accomplish that number. This was only the second overtime game in Super Bowl history. This marked the first back-to-back Super Bowl wins since Super Bowl XXXIX, making it three Super Bowl wins in five years. In 2024, the Chiefs won a franchise record 15 games and received a first round bye. They defeated the Houston Texans 23, 14 in the Divisional Round, followed by a 32, 29 win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, becoming the first team in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls, then return to the Super Bowl in the third season. This also made them the first NFL team to appear in seven consecutive conference championships and the first NFL team to appear in five Super Bowls over a six-year period. They faced the Philadelphia Eagles again in Super Bowl LIX, as they had done in Super Bowl LVII, and lost the rematch, 40, 22. The Chiefs' Thanksgiving game against the Dallas Cowboys became the most-watched NFL regular season game on record, drawing 57.2 million viewers. The game was broadcast on CBS and streaming service Paramount+, and peaked with 61.4 million viewers by the game's conclusion.
Hank Stram, the team's first head coach, led the Chiefs to three AFL championship victories and two appearances in the Super Bowl. Stram was the team's longest-tenured head coach, holding the position from 1960 to 1974. Marty Schottenheimer was hired in 1989 and led Kansas City to seven playoff appearances in his ten seasons as head coach. Schottenheimer had the best winning percentage (.634) of all Chiefs coaches. Gunther Cunningham was on the Chiefs' coaching staff in various positions from 1995 to 2008, serving as the team's head coach in between stints as the team's defensive coordinator. Dick Vermeil coached the team to a franchise-best 9, 0 start in the 2003 season. Of the ten Chiefs coaches, Hank Stram, Marv Levy, and Dick Vermeil have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Levy is more well known for his time with the Buffalo Bills. Herm Edwards served as the team's head coach from 2006 to 2008, compiling a 15, 33 record and a franchise worst 6, 26 record over a two-year span. Todd Haley compiled a 19, 26 record with the team from 2009 to 2011, including an AFC West division title in 2010. Haley was fired with three games left in the 2011 season. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach, and was promoted to full-time coach in January 2012. Crennel was fired on Monday, the 31st of December 2012, after finishing the 2012 season with a 2, 14 record. On the 5th of January 2013, the Chiefs hired Andy Reid to be their next head coach. In Reid's tenure, the Chiefs have never had a sub-.500 season, making the playoffs in 10 of his 11 seasons as head coach, winning the division six times, and twice having two consecutive Super Bowl appearances, and three wins. With a 21, 14 victory over the Miami Dolphins, on the 5th of November 2023, in Frankfurt Germany, Andy Reid tied former Chiefs head coach Hank Stram on the franchise's all-time regular season wins list with 124 victories. In 1970, the Chiefs finished 7, 5, 2 and missed the playoffs. The next season, the Chiefs tallied a 10, 3, 1 record and won the AFC West Division. Head coach Hank Stram considered his 1971 Chiefs team as his best, but they failed to capture their championship dominance from 1969. Most of the pieces of the team that won Super Bowl IV two years earlier were still in place for the 1971 season. The Chiefs tied with the Miami Dolphins for the best record in the AFC, and both teams met in a Christmas Day playoff game which the Chiefs lost 27, 24 in double overtime. The Dolphins outlasted the Chiefs with a 37-yard field goal. The game surpassed the 1962 AFL Championship Game as the longest ever at 82 minutes and 40 seconds. The game was also the final football game at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. In 1972, the Chiefs moved into the newly constructed Arrowhead Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex outside of downtown Kansas City. The team's first game at Arrowhead was against the St. Louis Cardinals, a preseason game that the Chiefs won 24, 14. Linebacker Willie Lanier and quarterback Len Dawson won the NFL Man of the Year Award in 1972 and 1973, respectively. The Chiefs did not return to the post-season for the remainder of the 1970s, and the 1973 season was the team's last winning season for seven years. Hank Stram was fired after a 5, 9 season in 1974, and many of the Chiefs' future Hall of Fame players departed by the middle of the decade. From 1975 to 1988, the Chiefs had become a team that rarely won, which provided Chiefs fans with nothing but futility. Five head coaches struggled to achieve the same success as Stram, compiling an 81, 121, 1 record. In 1980, Coach Marv Levy cut future Hall of Fame Kicker Jan Stenerud for little-known Nick Lowery, who would become the most accurate kicker in NFL history over the next 14 years. In 1981, running back Joe Delaney rushed for 1,121 yards and was named the AFC Rookie of the Year. The Chiefs finished the season with a 9, 7 record and entered the 1982 season with optimism. The NFL Players Association strike curbed the Chiefs' chances of returning to the postseason for the first time in over a decade. The Chiefs tallied a 3, 6 record and in the off-season, Joe Delaney died while trying to save several children from drowning in a pond near his home in Louisiana. The Chiefs drafted quarterback Todd Blackledge over future greats such as Jim Kelly and Dan Marino in the 1983 NFL draft. Blackledge never started a full season for Kansas City while Kelly and Marino played Hall of Fame careers. While the Chiefs struggled on offense in the 1980s, they had a strong defensive unit consisting of Pro Bowlers such as Bill Maas, Albert Lewis, Art Still and Deron Cherry. John Mackovic took over head coaching duties for the 1983 season after Marv Levy was fired. Over the next four seasons, Mackovic coached the Chiefs to a 30, 34 record, but took the team to its first postseason appearance in 15 years in the 1986 NFL playoffs. They lost to the New York Jets in the wild-card round. Despite leading the Chiefs to only their third winning season and second playoff appearance since the merger, Mackovic was fired for what Hunt described as a lack of chemistry. Frank Gansz served as head coach for the next two seasons, but won only eight of 31 games.
Arrowhead Stadium has been the Chiefs' home field since 1972 and has a capacity of 76,416, which makes it the fifth-largest stadium in the NFL. The stadium underwent a $375 million renovation, completed in mid-2010, which included new luxury boxes, wider concourses and enhanced amenities. The stadium renovation was paid for by $250 million in taxpayer money and $125 million from the Hunt Family. The stadium cost $53 million to build in 1972, and an average ticket in 2009 costs $81. Aramark serves as the stadium's concession provider and T-Mobile, Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola are major corporate sponsors. Dating back to the Chiefs' home opener in 1991 to mid-2009, the Chiefs had 155 consecutive sellout games. The streak ended with the final home game of the 2009 season against the Cleveland Browns, resulting in the first local TV blackout in over 19 years. Arrowhead has been called one of the world's finest stadiums and has long held a reputation for being one of the toughest and loudest outdoor stadiums for opposing players to play in. All noise is directly attributed to its fans and was once measured at 116 decibels by the Acoustical Design Group of Mission, Kansas. By way of comparison, take-off of aircraft may lead to a sound level of 106 decibels at the ground. Sports Illustrated named Arrowhead Stadium the "toughest place to play" for opposing teams in 2005. The tailgate party environment outside the stadium on gameday has been compared to a "college football" atmosphere. Arrowhead Stadium features frequent fly-overs from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber from nearby Whiteman Air Force Base. Since the 1994 NFL season, the stadium has had a natural grass playing surface. From 1972 to 1993, the stadium had an artificial AstroTurf surface. During the game against the Oakland Raiders on the 13th of October 2013, Arrowhead Stadium once again became the loudest stadium in the world when the fans set the Guinness Book of World Records record for loudest crowd in an outdoor stadium (137.5 dB), breaking the record set by the Seattle Seahawks just four weeks earlier. A few weeks after, Seattle re-gained the record by reaching a noise level of 137.6 decibels. Chiefs fans have reclaimed the record once again on the 29th of September 2014, on ESPN's Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots, the fans recorded a sound reading of 142.2 decibels. The stadium has been officially named GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (pronounced G.E.H.A.) since 2021. The stadium was renamed after GEHA signed a naming rights deal with the Chiefs. On the 22nd of December 2025, the Chiefs announced they will leave Arrowhead Stadium and move to Kansas City, Kansas, with an agreement to build a new stadium in Wyandotte County, which is planned to open in time for the start of the 2031 NFL season.
The rivalry between the Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders is considered as one of the NFL's most bitter, extending back into the infancy of the AFL. Most notably during the era; both the Chiefs and Raiders appeared in the first two Super Bowl games. Since the AFL was established in 1960, the Chiefs and Raiders have shared the same division, first being the AFL Western Conference, and since the AFL, NFL merger, the AFC West. The Chiefs lead the regular season series 73, 55, 2 as of the end of the 2023 season, including a 2, 1 playoff record against Las Vegas. A historic divisional battle for the Chiefs; the rivalry with the Los Angeles Chargers reignited during the 2020s as matchups would feature an offensive battle between Patrick Mahomes and Chargers' pro-bowl quarterback Justin Herbert. The Chiefs lead 69, 58, 1 as of the end of the 2023 season, but the Chargers won 17, 0 in the only playoff meeting between the two teams, a 1992 AFC wild card game. Chiefs lead 72, 56 as of the 2023 season, which included a run of 16 straight wins, but the Broncos won the only playoff game between the two teams, a 1997 AFC Divisional game. The series originated during the American Football League's inaugural season in 1960, as both the Kansas City Chiefs, then known as the Dallas Texans, and Buffalo Bills were charter teams in the league. Despite being in two different divisions since their founding in 1960, the Bills and Chiefs have had many notable moments in NFL postseason history, most notably the 1966 AFL Championship Game, the 1993 AFC Championship Game between Kelly and Montana, the 2021 AFC Divisional playoff game (known especially for the infamous '13 Seconds'), and the 2023 AFC Divisional playoff game (known as 'Wide Right II'). Since 2020, the rivalry has redeveloped as both teams consistently contended for the AFC title. A rivalry has also developed between Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, with many comparing it to the former rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. At the end of the 2024, 25 season, Buffalo leads the series 30, 26, 1, but Kansas City leads the playoff series 5, 2. Of the seven playoff meetings the teams have contested, four were AFL/AFC championship games. The Chiefs established cross-state rivalries with NFL teams in St. Louis, Missouri, with a trophy being awarded to the winner of each game. From 1960 to 1988, the Chiefs played the St. Louis Cardinals before they moved to Arizona. The series found new life from 1995 to 2015, when the Rams played in St. Louis, ending upon the team's return to Los Angeles in 2016. The Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams played each other in 2018, a matchup that was the third-highest scoring of all time and is hailed by many as one of the greatest in league history. As of the 2023 season, the Chiefs lead the all-time series 8, 5.
The franchise was founded in 1959 by Lamar Hunt after a failed attempt by Hunt to purchase an NFL franchise and move them to Texas. Hunt remained the team's owner until his death in 2006. The Hunt family kept ownership of the team after Lamar's death and Clark Hunt, Lamar's son, represents the family's interests. While Hunt's official title is CEO and Chairman of the Board, he represents the team at all owner meetings. In 2010, Hunt assumed role as CEO alongside his role as chairman of the board. According to Forbes, the team began the 2024 season valued at $4.85 billion USD, ranking them 24th among the 32 NFL teams. Owner Lamar Hunt served as the team's president from 1960 to 1976. Because of Lamar Hunt's contributions to the NFL, the AFC Championship trophy is named after him. He promoted general manager Jack Steadman to become the team's president in 1977. Steadman held the job until Carl Peterson was hired by Hunt in 1988 to replace him. Peterson resigned the title as team president in 2008. Denny Thum became the team's interim president after Peterson's departure and was
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Common questions
When was the Kansas City Chiefs franchise founded and what was its original name?
The Kansas City Chiefs franchise was founded in 1959 by Lamar Hunt as the Dallas Texans. The team began play in 1960 before relocating to Kansas City on the 22nd of May 1963.
Who is the longest-tenured head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and how many seasons did he lead the team?
Hank Stram served as the Kansas City Chiefs' head coach from 1960 to 1974 for a total of 15 seasons. He led the team to three AFL championship victories and two Super Bowl appearances during his tenure.
What are the specific dates and results of the Kansas City Chiefs recent Super Bowl wins since 2019?
The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV on the 2nd of February 2020 against the San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl LVII in 2023 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 against the San Francisco 49ers. They also appeared in Super Bowl LIX in 2025 but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.
When did Arrowhead Stadium open and what was its original construction cost compared to the 2010 renovation price?
Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972 with an original construction cost of $53 million. The stadium underwent a $375 million renovation completed in mid-2010 that included new luxury boxes and enhanced amenities.
Who is the current owner of the Kansas City Chiefs and when did Lamar Hunt die?
Clark Hunt represents the family's interests as CEO and Chairman of the Board following the death of founder Lamar Hunt in 2006. Lamar Hunt served as team president from 1960 until 1976 before passing ownership responsibilities within his family.