Arrowhead Stadium is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri, and home to the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and Major
League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards. It is part of the city's Truman Sports Complex (together with Kauffman Stadium). Fans occasionally refer to
the stadium as The Red Sea or simply Arrowhead. The stadium is commonly referred to as the "Home of the CHIEFS" at the beginning of every
home game.
Arrowhead has long held a reputation for being one of, if not the, loudest outdoor stadium in the NFL due to the exuberance of the Chiefs' fans.
Fan generated noise was once measured at 116 decibels by the Acoustical Design Group of Mission, KS. This contributes to the unique
"atmosphere" of the stadium, for which Sports Illustrated gave the Chiefs' home field, Arrowhead Stadium, the title of being the "Toughest Place
to Play" for opposing teams.
History
In January 1967, the Chiefs played in the first Super Bowl. In October Charlie Finley finally got approval to move the Kansas City Athletics to
Oakland, California and out of the aging Municipal Stadium and its inner city neighborhood. The City of Kansas City was unable to find a suitable
location for a stadium so Jackson County, Missouri stepped in and offered a suburban location on the extreme east edge of Kansas City near the
interchange of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435.
Voters in 1967 approved a $102 million bond issue to build new stadiums. The original design called for construction of separate baseball and
football stadiums with a common roof that would roll between them. The design proved to be more complicated and expensive than originally
thought and so was scrapped in favor of the current open air configuration. The two-stadium complex concept was the first of its kind. The Chiefs
staff, led by Jack Steadman, helped develop the complex. Construction began in 1968.
The original two stadium concept was initially suggested by Denver architect Charles Deaton and Steadman. It was implemented by the Kansas
City architect firm of Kivett & Myers. Arrowhead was SO well designed, nearly every football stadium built ever since has been influenced by its
design. In 1975 the firm merged with Kansas City architect firm HNTB which has gone on to design stadiums across the country including the
following NFL stadiums: Giants Stadium, RCA Dome, INVESCO Field at Mile High, and Ralph Wilson Stadium. Other architects from Kivett joined
HOK Sport + Venue + Event which is headquartered in Kansas City. Almost every professional stadium the United States in the last 20 years has
been designed by the firms.
Construction on Arrowhead Stadium was completed for the 1972 season. On August 12, 1972, The Chiefs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals
24-14 in the first game at Arrowhead Stadium. On January 20, 1974, Arrowhead hosted the NFL Pro Bowl, which was won by the AFC, 15 - 13. In
1984, the Jackson County Sports Authority re-evaluated the concept of a dome (a fabric one). The concept was disregarded as being
unnecessary and financially impractical. In 1991, a JumboTron screen was installed. In 1994 other improvements were made and a grass playing
surface was installed, replacing the original AstroTurf artificial turf. With the formation of the Major League Soccer in 1996, Arrowhead became
home to the Kansas City Wizards.
On April 4, 2006, Jackson County voters approved a tax increase for $850 million for renovations to Arrowhead and nearby Kauffman Stadium.
However the voters rejected a tax increase for $170 million to place a rolling roof on the stadium. Prior to the election the NFL awarded the 49th
Super Bowl in 2015 to Kansas City provided it have a climate controlled stadium. With the passing of the stadium bill, the Chiefs new lease
became effective. With the new lease, the Chiefs will remain at Arrowhead until at least 2031.
Question 1 sought a three-eighths-cent sales tax to raise an estimated $850 million during 25 years to finance $425 million in construction costs,
with the remainder spent on interest and future major stadium repairs.
Voters approved of the first question on the ballot (a 3/8 cent sales tax to help renovate Kauffman & Arrowhead Stadiums) by 53%. Thus since
the rolling roof plan did not pass, Kansas City chose to withdraw its request to host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
Campaign organizers estimate that the reconstruction for the stadiums will begin sometime in 2007, and the stadiums will be done by the year
2010.
The renovations were originally going to force the Wizards to find a temporary home following the 2006 season, but delays have allowed the
them to return for 2007. The Wizards are still considering other locations in Greater Kansas City for their soccer specific stadium.
