Whether the Chiefs win or lose, playoff games give Kansas City economy a nice boost
The temperature outdoors is expected to plummet ahead of Saturday’s playoff game, but look for the local economy to warm up.
Kansas City’s taxpayer-funded conventions and visitors bureau, Visit KC, estimates that this weekend’s home game at Arrowhead Stadium will produce a $16 million boost in economic activity around the metro area, which is about $3 million more than for a regular season home game.
Of course, this is just a guess. But according to Visit KC, it’s an educated one, derived from a calculator that has become the industry standard and used by 300 other “destination management organizations” like Visit KC.
“These economic impact estimates are generated using an industry model designed to forecast net new money being brought into a city during a festival or live event,” said Visit KC communications manager Makenzie Wolters. “It’s called the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator— to measure how events like a playoff game, basketball tournament or concerts benefit a community financially.”
The weights of the inputs in the calculator are location- and event-specific. Each city is different in size and proximity to other population centers, and not everyone calculates economic benefits the same way.
A Michigan consulting firm, for instance, estimates that Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game in Detroit between the Lions and Washington Commanders will have a direct economic impacts of $39.3 million, plus an indirect impact of $25.5 million. Please note that the Detroit metro population is also about double that of Kansas City’s, and we don’t know if that firm uses the same methodology.
Also, note that some events produce different spending patterns than others. For instance, people from out of town attending a Bruce Springsteen concert may or may not be as likely to load up on hot wings as football fans from Houston attending this weekend’s matchup between the Chiefs and the Texans.
Same goes for concert t-shirts versus the urge of Chiefs fans to refresh their wardrobes on a potential Super Bowl run, which is one reason that playoff games tend to be more important economically than just any other game on a Sunday afternoon in the fall.
“Of course, shops see more people buying Chiefs gear, but it goes much further when you think about thousands of visitors filling KC hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.,” Wolters said in our exchange of emails.
She also noted that the $16 million projected for this weekend – and, with luck, a similar amount projected a week from now should the Chiefs make it to the AFC championship game – does not include the additional tax revenue playoff games generate. But Visit KC didn’t make a guess on what that number might be. It might be hard to do, anyway, given that playoffs-related expenditures will produce increased tax revenues in dozens of taxing districts across the region, from north of the river to south Overland Park, Lawrence to Lee’s Summit.
Last year while trying to convince Jackson County voters to approve an unsuccessful sales tax measure that would have paid for major renovations at Arrowhead, the Chiefs said that the team’s home games and other events at Arrowhead Stadium had an annual economic impact of $993.2 million in the Kansas City region.
“This economic activity supports 5,860 total jobs annually, including a mix of full- and part-time employment,” the team said. “In addition, the Chiefs and the iconic GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium generate $28.8 million in direct, indirect and induced tax revenue for the State of Missouri annually.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 11:07 AM.
