How KC sports bars are learning to cope in NFL playoff season without the Chiefs
The NFL playoffs began Jan. 10, and for the first time since 2014, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs will not be making a Super Bowl run. That was the same year Patrick Mahomes was a freshman at Texas Tech, and the Kansas City Royals went to the World Series before winning it all the next year.
So it’s been a while since the Chiefs and their fans have had playoff FOMO. And multiple sports bars around the metro said Chiefs’ fans presence at their establishments had diminished before the team was officially out of the post-season.
One of those bars is Johnny’s Tavern in the Power & Light District, at 1310 Grand Blvd. Kyle Witherspoon has owned the bar since 2001, which means he’s experienced some of the Chiefs’ highest of highs when it came to playoff football.
Some of the most fun he’s had working included working the seven straight AFC Championship games the Chiefs appeared in. While he knows that the sports fans will still be present in his bar throughout the playoffs, he said nothing beats that Chiefs crowd that won’t be there this year.
“There are avid sports fans in Kansas City, and people will come out and watch the NFL playoffs, and people will come out and watch the Super Bowl,” Witherspoon said.
“It’s nothing compared to if the Chiefs were still playing. It is a completely different vibe, but it’s not like people aren’t going to come out and watch football.”
Witherspoon said that he expects his bar to be half full for Super Bowl LX, which will now crown a new team as champions. The Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIX opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, were eliminated during the NFL Wild Card weekend by the San Francisco 49ers.
As Witherspoon said, sports still go on and people are still coming into the bars. But even he’s noticed that there’s a bitter taste in Chiefs fans’ mouths, as he’s spoken to fans who have come into the bar, saddened by this season’s results.
“Everybody was kind of on the same page, and everybody was sad. The Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs with three weeks left to go,” he said.
“But even then, people kind of quit, lost interest and quit coming out for the Chiefs games, knowing that they were eliminated from the playoffs.”
‘A huge decline in business’
Another prime spot for watching sports in KC is the Westport neighborhood, including Harpo’s, 4109 Pennsylvania Ave., which has hosted multiple Chiefs watch parties in the past.
Lauren Taylor has worked at Harpo’s for 10 years, and even prior to the beginning of Wild Card weekend — Jan. 10 and 11 — she said she wouldn’t be surprised if the fellow sports bars in the area are dealing with less foot traction as well.
“It’s definitely been a huge decline in business. People still come in, though, to watch games,” Taylor says. “Other teams we still get, like college football, and those crowds come in still. Chiefs games, I would say 25% of the crowd showed up.”
One thing is for certain: The Chiefs’ playoff absence will be felt in the metro financially.
Last year, Visit KC, Kansas City’s taxpayer-funded conventions and visitors bureau, Visit KC, estimated that one playoff weekend at Arrowhead Stadium would create a $16 million boost in economic activity around the metro area.
Despite a down year, and with Patrick Mahomes likely to miss some time next season as he recovers from an ACL tear, Witherspoon is optimistic that Chiefs Kingdom will make their presence known in the 2026 season.
“Chiefs fans are pretty loyal and pretty excitable. There’ll be just as much excitement going into next year as there was this year, and in the years in the past,” he said.
“Arrowhead will be sold out week one. The bars will be packed week one.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
