Under the leadership of Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, the franchise has experienced significant success on and off the field. Since Hunt took the helm, the team has transformed from a long-suffering franchise to one with multiple Super Bowl wins and a rapidly growing global fan base.
Reflecting on his journey with the organization, Hunt stated, “When Mark Donovan joined the organization over 15 years ago [as chief operating officer] and began his leadership as president of the team [in 2011], he and I talked about where we wanted to take the Kansas City Chiefs, where we wanted the brand to go (…) And this was a time period where we weren’t a very good football team and we were probably, you know, below the median in the league in terms of our fan base. And what we said to each other is we want to prepare for success, for the day that we have success on the field and make sure that we capture that moment.”
Donovan highlighted both Clark Hunt’s leadership and that of his late father Lamar Hunt in expanding the club’s reach: “It starts with support. Clark and the entire Hunt family have been really supportive, [with] our aggressive efforts to continue to grow, not only regionally and nationally, but also internationally (…) And if you’ve spoken to Clark, you probably know that really comes from his father Lamar, who was way ahead of the times in a lot of things, but specifically in the international. He believed in the ’70s that international was the growth engine for the NFL. And we’re just today now taking advantage of that.”
Statistical data reflects Kansas City’s new status beyond its local market. The team now leads NFL fandom rankings in six out of nine major international markets.
Hunt elaborated on their global strategy: “With the NFL, we broadened our perspective about 10 years ago to really thinking about how we could build a fan base outside the United States. The NFL opened up markets around the world and teams like the Chiefs were able to bid on the right to market in those cities and countries (…) We were initially awarded the right to Germany and Mexico and have since added the U.K. and Spain to that. And we do a lot of [grassroots] marketing there throughout the year. And then when we have a chance, we love to be able to bring a game to those markets, as we did with Frankfurt, Germany, a few years ago and, before that, Mexico City and also London (…) The combination has allowed us to build a really big brand outside the United States…. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a lot of opportunity in front of us, including this year when we get to go to Brazil and play the opening game of our season in Sao Paulo.”
Donovan discussed how recent changes within league rules enabled more robust outreach: “You have to understand that this program really wasn’t in existence six years ago, and the NFL expanded teams’ rights to enter into the market internationally (…) Before it was all controlled by the NFL and it really limited teams like us and others from doing more. When they opened that window a crack, we barged through it (…). So, we did a lot of research on what countries to go to first.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes acknowledged strong support overseas after playing against Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt: “It’s cool, you know, you see the passion that fans have worldwide (…) But whenever you play in Germany and it’s like 80 percent is Chiefs fans, you can tell that they really do care about American football and they want us to bring it to them.”
Hunt recounted early experiences with international games: “[The NFL] brought preseason games internationally (…) We had a chance to play in Japan twice. We played in Monterrey, Mexico. We also had a chance to play in Berlin, Germany (…) So those were sort of early efforts that laid foundation.”
Focusing locally remains critical even amid international growth initiatives. “One of things we’ve focused on with Chiefs over last couple decades is engaging with our fan base not only on game day,” Hunt said (…)”In old days that was how fans interacted with favorite teams; [it] was really on game day. That has expanded over last 20 or so years (…). Fans want connect different ways; social media has given us tremendous opportunity engage our fans.”
Discussing adjustments by coaches during global expansion efforts: “It really comes down Andy [Reid] his tremendous experience terms preparing teams any environ,” Hunt added.
The expansion is not limited geographically; demographic shifts are also evident due partly to pop star Taylor Swift‘s public presence at games alongside tight end Travis Kelce.
“Really from day she walked into stadium it opened up new fan base for us,” Hunt said (…)”In fact as I travel around country I’ll frequently run into people who tell me ‘Thank you.’ I’m like ‘Thank you for what?’ They say ‘Well thank you because my daughter never wanted watch NFL games but now anytime Kansas City Chiefs are on I want watch football with you’ (…) There’s no doubt I see more young women here over last couple years; think have say thank you Taylor for that.”
He continued discussing engagement strategies aimed at women: “We’re delighted so much our fan base is now female (…) I think Chiefs may be over 50 percent which very unique league… we’ve done number things target fan base (….) One example style lounge every fall show how fashion sport NFL intersected (…). We get several thousand people sold out every year.”
Sarah Bishop Vice President Global Brand Consumer Marketing NFL remarked on role women now play overall league engagement: “The NFL is No. 1 U.S sport women (…). There’s over 65 percent women country it always blows my mind just sort scale reach also those women are No 1 group that’s driving growth.”
On carrying forward his father’s legacy while maintaining competitive edge for franchise both at home abroad Hunt concluded: “I really view [recent years] as having built my dad’s legacy (…). A lot people thought my dad wasn’t very competitive which not right all (…). He was incredibly competitive person wanted nothing more for his teams specifically Chiefs [than] win world championships (….) I’m so glad we’ve been able get back top have success last six or seven years I know he would be smiling if he were here today see where Chiefs are.”
