Kansas City Chiefs introduce their new squad of cheerleaders for 2026-27 season
The Kansas City Chiefs announced their new Chiefs Cheer team Tuesday, a squad that fans will see perform at every home game — preseason, regular season and postseason — in the upcoming NFL campaign.
Finalists auditioned in person at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium over the weekend.
The final dance during auditions was choreographed by choreographer/dancer Quinton Peron, a former Los Angeles Rams cheerleader.
Chiefs Cheer candidates must be 18 to audition. Typically, many hopefuls either cheered or were on dance teams in college. This year’s squad includes graduates from the University of Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, University of Missouri, University of Kentucky and Duke.
The new roster of veterans and rookies includes a civil engineer, commercial real estate broker, physical therapist, dance teachers, an ultrasound tech, at least one registered nurse and a law school grad studying for the bar. Veterans must audition every year to stay on the team.
Finalists not only have to demonstrate their dance skills, but are tested on their knowledge of football, public-speaking talent and fitness — pushups, situps, plank poses. They perform with the group and in solo routines.
For security reasons, the Chiefs release only first names of their cheerleaders, though many of the squad members have social media accounts where they identify themselves as NFL cheerleaders.
Tryouts are not open to the public. But the squad took fans along for the ride on Instagram where posts spotlighted specific dancers, including veteran Darian Foley, who performed one of the judges’ favorite solos of the weekend.
The squad begins twice-a-week rehearsals in June. Fans will likely get their first chance to meet the new squad at Chiefs training camp this summer.
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