Season-ticket holders share thoughts on attending Chiefs games during time of COVID
Yes, you have a shot at attending a Chiefs game in person this season.
But no, getting ahold of the reduced allotment of tickets to games at Arrowhead Stadium won’t be easy.
The Chiefs will open the gates at Arrowhead this season at a reduced capacity for their first three home games because of the COVID-19 pandemic: 22 percent of the 76,000 spectators the stadium usually holds, or about 16,700 fans per game, will be allowed to attend.
The Chiefs’ first game is Thursday, Sept. 10 at home against the Houston Texans.
Single-game tickets for the club’s first three games went on sale initially only to season-ticket holders, in order of their tenure, on Monday. Tickets unsold after all of the team’s season-ticket holders have a chance to purchase them will be offered first to Jackson County residents and then to the general public.
The Chiefs’ decision to allow some fans at these games begs an important question: How do those season-ticket holders feel about sitting in the stadium near other fans and watching games at Arrowhead during a pandemic?
Chiefs fan Rusty Jones said he will certainly be going.
“I will attend the games because I want to go support my team and be with the other fans,” he said. “The virus wouldn’t stop me from doing that.”
Jones, an owner of Chiefs season tickets for 30 seasons, said that going to games has been a family tradition for many years and gives him a sense of civic pride.
The experience for Jones and others at the games will be different this fall than in years past. The Chiefs are requiring all fans who enter the stadium to wear masks at all times, with the exception of when they are eating and drinking. All bags, including the clear ones the NFL has mandated for several years, are prohibited in hopes of minimizing contact during the security screening process. The stadium will be completely cashless for all game-day transactions, as well.
Jones believes face masks should be worn at concessions stands, in the concourses and inside restrooms, but he doesn’t agree with requiring the wearing of masks in the family-seating pods the Chiefs are using because fans will be sitting with people they already know.
If the Chiefs decide to halt fan attendance after their first three games, Jones said he’ll set up a big-screen TV in his home office for his family and friends to gather and tailgate.
Fan Brianna Andrae said she’ll be attending the Chiefs’ home opener to see the Super Bowl champions raise their championship banner.
“I’ll probably cry again, just like I did when we won the Super Bowl,” she said.
Like Jones, Chiefs fandom runs deep in her family. Andrae said her dad has had tickets since 1980; she had been going in her father’s place for the last 10 years, before officially putting the tickets in her name this season.
But once that opener is done, Andrae might not attend the Chiefs’ other home games this fall. She said she has reservations about going to the other two home dates currently open to fans based on the potentially steeper pricing for those tickets — the Chiefs have told season-ticket holders that the price for reduced-capacity games won’t be what they originally paid for them.
Another fan, Mary Latenser Nelson, said she won’t be attending any Chiefs games this season. For her family, it wasn’t worth the risk because her husband has increased risk factors for COVID-19.
“Before we knew the Chiefs’ plans for fans in the stands, we decided not to attend any games for at least the first half of the season,” she said. “After that, it would depend on the state of local outbreaks. Our 31 years as season-ticket members might mean tickets would be available when our pre-sale day rolls around. But we won’t be buying tickets.
“I’m going to really hate missing the Super Bowl flag raising and ring ceremony.”
Tim Price, who lives in Kingman, Kan., said he is opting out of this season, as well. Price bought season tickets last year after a two-year hiatus away from purchasing them — before that break, he said, he had bought season tickets for 20 years.
But he said his decision to opt out this fall isn’t based on health concerns. Rather, he doesn’t want to go online and wait to find out if he’ll get a ticket. He lives five hours away from Kansas City and said as much as he loves the Chiefs, it’s an extreme time commitment for him to travel in for games.
With another season off, he hopes to save up money for next season and allow his credit to move to 2021.
Both Price and Andrae, the fans who will attend one game or as many as they can this autumn, said they have no reservations about attending games at Arrowhead this fall because they believe the Chiefs and fellow fans will needed precautions to ensure the stadium presents a safe environment.
“People are probably educated enough now to use common sense,” Price said. “You know, we’ll socially distance, we’ll wear the mask when asked to — you know, we’ll take care of ourselves.”
He paused, thinking about the team’s recent successes.
“I’m just tickled to death that we seem to have gotten over the hump of getting that first Super Bowl after however many years,” Price said, “With (Patrick) Mahomes there and (Andy) Reid still coaching, we’re hopeful. So win, lose or draw, we’re still gonna support them.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 1:03 PM.