For Chiefs’ Clark Hunt, putting together a ‘top-flight bid’ for a Super Bowl remains a goal

Shortly after the Chiefs announced their decision to surrender a home game in 2015 to play a game in London, team Chairman Clark Hunt made it clear that the team’s desire to someday host a Super Bowl played a role in it.

At the time, Hunt cited a recently amended resolution from 2006 that requires a team that plays host to a Super Bowl also host an overseas game, and he remains hopeful his team’s decision to surrender its home-field advantage against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 1 will take care of that obligation for the next four or five years as it pursues a Super Bowl bid.

“Well, the Super Bowl in New York opened the door for us and everyone else who has an open-air stadium to realistically think about bringing the Super Bowl here,” Hunt said. “You probably heard me make some comments about the fact that the Super Bowl that was just played was actually originally slated for Kansas City. So that shows me there’s a willingness among the ownership group to give a game to Kansas City.

“Now, when and if we get the opportunity — and that’s an ‘if’ because the league hasn’t said we’re going outdoors yet — but if we get the opportunity, we’ve got to put together a top-flight bid.”

Indeed, this year’s Super Bowl originally was awarded to Kansas City by the league’s owners in 2005, but it was contingent on the approval of two sales taxes in Jackson County that would fund a new roof for Arrowhead Stadium. Only one was approved, however, and the Chiefs withdrew their bid.

Hunt, however, said bringing a Super Bowl to Kansas City remains a priority, even though the day-to-day operations of the franchise currently take precedence.

“Well, it’s one of those priorities that you can’t work on every year because it’s not something we can do now because the league’s got to make the decision (to go back outdoors) and they haven’t gotten close,” Hunt said. “But it’s in the back of our mind, and what it involves is not just a Chiefs effort, but a citywide and even statewide effort. It takes that kind of involvement to put together a winning bid. And when that opportunity comes, we’ll put our best foot forward.”

Part of getting to that point, Hunt said, was making the tough decision to surrender the Chiefs’ home game against the Lions, a decision he understands has irked some fans.

“Well, first of all, I understand our fans’ disappointment with losing a home game at Arrowhead, and that was the hardest part about the decision for me,” Hunt said. “It is an initiative the league is very committed to, and I think eventually, everybody’s going to play a home game away.

“I just felt, for a lot of reasons, that this is the right year for us to go ahead and do it. I’m looking forward to going over there and hopefully beating the Detroit Lions.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 1:00 AM with the headline "For Chiefs’ Clark Hunt, putting together a ‘top-flight bid’ for a Super Bowl remains a goal."