Fifty greatest moments in the half-century history of Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium

The Kansas City Chiefs have played more than 500 games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium since the venue’s debut in 1972.

It’s been the site of AFC Championship Games. Fantastic finishes and heartbreaks during the NFL’s regular season. College and high school football games. Professional and international soccer matches, not to mention motorsports events, conventions and, of course, concerts.

All have made appearances at the iconic, open-bowl structure situated alongside Interstate 70 east of downtown Kansas City.

For the 50th anniversary of the football half of the Truman Sports Complex, let’s remember some of the greatest moments witnessed at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Our Top 50 list is heavily tilted toward Kansas City Chiefs games, of course, but there’s plenty of non-football stuff to remember here, too.

Every playoff victory

Jan. 23, 2022

AFC Divisional Round

Chiefs 42, Buffalo Bills 36 OT

The Buffalo Bills went ahead of the Chiefs 36-33 on Gabriel Davis’ NFL-record fourth touchdown reception from Josh Allen. With 13 seconds remaining, all seemed lost for the Chiefs. Then the unthinkable happened. Completions to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce totaled 44 yards, and Harrison Butker banged through a 49-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. The Chiefs won the coin-toss, got the ball first and scored the game-winner on Patrick Mahomes’ 8-yard strike to Kelce. The wild contest won ESPN’s ESPY award as Game of the Year. We call it the most unforgettable game in Arrowhead history.

Jan. 16, 2022

AFC Wild Card game

Chiefs 42, Pittsburgh Steelers 21

Five touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes (and one from Travis Kelce!) pushed the Chiefs to an easy playoff victory in the final game for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Chiefs started slowly, with three punts and two turnovers. But once they warmed up and began scoring, they didn’t stop. They scored touchdowns on six consecutive possessions. Any playoff victory is sweet. Beating the Steelers provided KC fans an extra kick.

Jan. 24, 2021

AFC Championship Game

Chiefs 38, Buffalo Bills 24

Mecole Hardman fumbled away a punt and Bills jumped to a 9-0 lead. Things didn’t look promising for the Chiefs, who were attempting to return to the Super Bowl. But before a pandemic-reduced crowd of 16,993, the Chiefs rallied, and a 3-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Hardman got things started. Hardman added a 50-yard run before the end of the first half. The Lamar Hunt Trophy was presented to the Chiefs, who accepted it wearing gray COVID face masks.

Jan. 17, 2021

AFC Divisional Round

Chiefs 22, Cleveland Browns 17

Patrick Mahomes scored the first touchdown himself and flung the ball into the stands. But it was reserve Chad Henne who finished off this one. Mahomes suffered a concussion, and the 35-year-old Henne delivered in the clutch. His 13-yard scramble on a third-and-14 set up his short pass to Tyreek Hill to clinch the game and send the Chiefs to the AFC title contest.

Jan. 19, 2020

AFC Championship Game

Chiefs 35, Tennessee Titans 24

Patrick Mahomes usually wins with his arm. This time, he turned the game with his running ability. Just before halftime, from the 27-yard line, Mahomes was flushed from the pocket. He got to the sideline and rumbled toward the end zone. He met resistance at the 5 but broke a tackle and powered over the goal line in one of the most memorable plays in Arrowhead history. With the victory, the Chiefs were on their way to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years.

AFC Divisional Round

Jan. 12, 2020

Chiefs 51, Houston Texans 31

Super Bowl hopes seemed dashed in the second quarter when the Texans grabbed a 24-0 lead. But incredibly, the Chiefs scored touchdowns on their next seven possessions, three each by Travis Kelce and Damien Williams. The Chiefs had the lead by halftime and ran away with a 20-point triumph. Mahomes finished with (count ‘em on your fingers) five touchdown passes.

Jan, 12, 2019

AFC Divisional Round

Chiefs 31, Indianapolis Colts 13

Not since the 1993 season had the Chiefs won a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. Heartbreak after heartbreak followed the franchise through the decades. And they had never defeated the Colts in four playoff attempts. But in Patrick Mahomes’ first postseason game — on a snowy Arrowhead turf — the Chiefs turned the page. They jumped to a 17-0 lead and cruised to victory in what became Colts quarterback Andrew Luck’s final game.

Jan. 8, 1994

AFC Wild Card game

Chiefs 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 24, OT

The blocked-punt game: with 2:29 remaining and the Chiefs trailing by a touchdown, Keith Cash blocked a punt and Fred Jones returned it to the 9. Three plays netted two yards, but on fourth down, Joe Montana found Tim Barnett in the back of the end zone for the game-tying score. The Chiefs had a chance to win in regulation, but Nick Lowery missed a 43-yard field goal. He got a second chance in overtime, nailing a 32 yarder for the victory.

Dec. 28, 1991

AFC Wild Card game

Chiefs 10, Los Angeles Raiders 6

It took two decades, but the Chiefs finally played host to a playoff game at Arrowhead. The Chiefs had defeated the Raiders six days earlier to secure home-field advantage in this Wild Card game. Deron Cherry’s interception set up the game’s only touchdown, a 7-yard pass from Steve DeBerg to Fred Jones. Barry Word finished with 133 rushing yards.

(MOSTLY) REGULAR-SEASON VICTORIES

Nov. 21, 2021

Defense rules the day

Chiefs 19, Dallas Cowboys 9

The Cowboys entered the Week 11 game with the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. But a motivated Chiefs defense held the visitors to three field goals. L’Jarius Sneed ended Dallas’ last-gasp drive with an interception, one of three Chiefs takeaways that day. The second-biggest audience to watch a regular-season game in 2021, nearly 29 million viewers on FOX, saw Chris Jones record 3 1/2 sacks.

Nov. 3, 2019

No Mahomes, no problem

Chiefs 26, Minnesota Vikings 23

Patrick Mahomes had suffered a knee injury two weeks earlier and the Chiefs dropped their first game without him in the pocket, falling to the Green Bay Packers. The Vikings came to Arrowhead as a 5 1/2-point favorites. Matt Moore was the Chiefs’ quarterback. A 91-yard touchdown run by Damien Williams, the longest by a Chiefs player in Arrowhead history, ignited the crowd. Harrison Butker booted two field goals around a defensive stand in the final 2:30, including a 44-yarder on the final snap, to make KC a dramatic winner.

Dec. 30, 2018

Mahomes joins 50/5,000 club

Chiefs 35, Oakland Raiders 3

Patrick Mahomes entered the regular-season finale with 48 touchdown passes in 2018, crushing the team record of 30 set by Hall of Famer Len Dawson. But would Mahomes reach 50? Yes, in style. An 89-yard bomb to Demarcus Robinson, who completed the score by backpedaling the final 10 yards into the end zone, was the milestone TD pass for Mahomes. Kansas City’s QB1 superstar in the making surpassed 5,000 passing yards for the season.

Dec. 9. 2018

Mahomes’ fourth-down heroics

Chiefs 27, Baltimore Ravens 24, OT

Patrick Mahomes may have sealed his MVP award with this Week 14 thriller. On a fourth-and-9 with 1:29 remaining, Mahomes scrambled and found Tyreek Hill for a 48-yard gain. Another fourth-down pass, this one from the 5 to Damien Williams, tied the game. The Chiefs forced a turnover and gave Harrison Butker a chance to win it in regulation, but he missed. Butker didn’t flub his second opportunity, nailing the winner from 35 yards out in overtime.

Sept. 23, 2018

Mahomes sees first action at Arrowhead ... and feels right at home

Chiefs 38, San Francisco 49ers 27

In his first two games as the Chiefs’ regular starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes was nearly perfect. He threw a total of 10 touchdown passes with no interceptions in games at the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers. But how would he handle his first Arrowhead Stadium? He delivered the first signature play of his career, a crazy scramble and touchdown pass on the run to Chris Conley. He added two more TDs, 307 passing yards and no interceptions as the Chiefs cruised.

Sept. 11, 2016

Alex Smith would not be denied

Chiefs 33, San Diego Chargers 27

The Chiefs fell behind 24-3 early in the third quarter and trailed 27-10 entering the fourth. But the Chiefs scored the final 17 points of regulation, and when KC quarterback Alex Smith powered in from the 2 in overtime, he let out a primal roar that produced an image for the ages. The Chiefs had completed the biggest comeback in their history to date: “a lot of emotion at the end of the game,” Smith said later in his typically understated assessment.

Sept. 29, 2014

When Arrowhead became world’s loudest stadium

Chiefs 41, New England Patriots 14

The night before the Royals would end their 29-year playoff drought with an American League Wild Card Game victory against the Oakland A’s across the parking lot at Kauffman Stadium, the Chiefs delivered one of their most complete games of the Andy Reid era here. Jamaal Charles rushed for three touchdowns and safety Husain Abdullah returned one of Tom Brady’s two interceptions for a touchdown before a raucous Monday Night Football crowd. This was the game where Guinness Book of World Records measured an ear-shattering 142.2-decibel roar to make Arrowhead the world’s loudest stadium.

Dec. 18, 2011

Pack undefeated no more

Chiefs 19, Green Bay Packers 14

The Packers rolled into Arrowhead with a 13-0 record and 19-game winning streak. The Chiefs (5-8) were going nowhere, and were playing in their first game with interim coach Romeo Crennel at the controls. But behind quarterback Kyle Orton (remember him?), the Chiefs outplayed the Packers in general and Aaron Rodgers in particular. The Chiefs would lift that interim tag from Crennel’s title at season’s end, in large part, some said, because of what he showed the team’s brass with this stunning outcome.

Oct. 31, 2011

A haunted finish for Chargers

Chiefs 23, San Diego Chargers 20, OT

With game tied and the clock winding down, the Chargers had driven to the Chiefs’ 15-yard line and were in position for a shot in prime-time at the game-winning field goal. A final snap, then bring on the field-goal unit, right? Nope, because typically sure-handed veteran Bolts QB Philip Rivers never got a handle on the exchange. Andy Studebaker bounced on the fumble and the game went to overtime, where it was the Chiefs’ kicker, Ryan Succop, who would drill a 30-yard field goal for this most improbable victory on Monday Night Football

Oct. 5, 2003

The electrifying Dante Hall

Chiefs 24, Denver Broncos 23

The greatest pass or run in Arrowhead history may be debatable. Not the greatest return. That belongs to Dante Hall, who officially returned a punt 93 yards ... but after traveling east, west and south before turning north, much more ground was covered by Hall on this play. It was Hall’s fourth return touchdown in four games. Hall became the toast of the league: Until that season, no NFL player has returned a kickoff or punt to paydirt in more than two consecutive games.

Sept. 23, 2001

A nation mourns together

New York Giants 13, Chiefs 3

This game represents the only Chiefs loss on our Top 50 list. Part of the first set of NFL games played after the 9/11 terrorist attacks included the Giants’ visit to Arrowhead, and Kansas City and Chiefs fans rose to the occasion. KC Mayor Kay Barnes declared game day “New York City Day” in Kansas City, and fans provided thunderous applause when the Giants took the field. In a plan developed by Lamar Hunt, the Chiefs even obtained the boots from 500 area fire companies and passed them through the stands. Chiefs fans stuffed $200,000 into those boots, an amount matched the by the Chiefs themselves and donated to rescue workers and the families of victims.

Oct. 2, 2000

An overflowing crowd

Chiefs 24, Seattle Seahawks 17

The Chiefs took a shot at the NFL record for attendance at a game. With the record at the time around 90,000, exactly how did they aim to do this at (then) 78,000-capacity Arrowhead? The record would be for “on site,” so if the Chiefs could get some 12,000 at nearby Kauffman Stadium to watch the contest on the big-screen scoreboard there, they’d claim it. Alas, fewer than 4,500 showed up at the home of the Royals. Still, with a full house to see the Chiefs’ victory plus that attendance at adjacent Kauffman Stadium, the total of 82,893 stands as the Chiefs’ single-game attendance record.

Oct. 2, 1998

And then it rained ... and rained

Chiefs 17, Seattle Seahawks 6

Arrowhead had never seen a storm like this. Nearly four inches of rain fell downtown between 7-9 p.m., and the stadium got every drop of that. A 54-minute weather delay, the first in stadium history, sent the teams to the locker rooms and fans to the concourses. “This was the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Art McNally, the NFL supervisor of officials who called for the weird weather delay. Puddles formed as the game started and the painted logos soon washed off the field. Chiefs quarterback RIch Gannon rushed for one touchdown and passed for another as the Chiefs slipped to the victory.

Nov 16, 1997

Stoyanovich needed every yard for game-winning kick

Chiefs 24, Denver Broncos 22

K.C. Wolf’s dance under the crossbar let all of Arrowhead know that Pete Stoyanovich’s 54-yard line-drive field goal — on the final snap — had scraped over the crossbar. In a battle of AFC West leaders, the Broncos went ahead on Jason Elam’s field goal with two minutes remaining, but quarterback Rich Gannon drove the Chiefs close enough for the last-gasp kick.

Oct. 9, 1995

With Vanover, it was game over

Chiefs 29, San Diego Chargers 23, OT

No many overtime games end on a punt return. This one did. After the Chiefs forced overtime on Steve Bono’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Walker, the teams exchanged punts in the extra session. The Chargers’ second punt ended the game when Tamarick Vanover returned it 86 yards to touch off a frenzied reaction at Arrowhead.

Sept. 17, 1995

A Hasty return sinks Raiders

Chiefs 23, Oakland Raiders 17, OT

An early-season showdown went into overtime when Chiefs kicker Lin Elliott missed a 24-yard field goal. The Chiefs got the ball first in OT, but the possession ended with a Marcus Allen fumble. No matter. In his first season with the Chiefs, James Hasty stepped in front of a Jeff Hostetler pass — intended for Tim Brown, but the umpire got in the way — and returned that pick 64 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Teammates piled on Hasty in the end zone. When Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer got there, he planted a kiss on Hasty’s forehead.

Sept. 11, 1994

The Joe Montana Game

Chiefs 24, San Francisco 49ers 17

The Week 2 encounter matched Joe Montana’s current team against his former one, and the organization that decided to go with Steve Young over the four-time Super Bowl champion after Montana was injured. In one of the most-hyped games in Arrowhead history, Montana threw two touchdown passes and the Chiefs prevailed. Young summed it up thusly once the dust had settled: “The master had more to teach the student today.” A Super Bowl rematch would’ve been a Hollywood script, but only the 49ers got there. And then won it.

Dec. 27, 1992

The unstoppable Derrick Thomas

Chiefs 42, Denver Broncos 20

The final team in the AFC playoffs would come from this regular-season finale between the Chiefs and Broncos. Arrowhead was rocking, and so was Derrick Thomas. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs leading by eight, the cat-quick linebacker blew past two blockers to sack and strip the ball from John Elway. Thomas recovered the fumble for a touchdown. Thomas, the future Hall of Famer, recorded three sacks and forced two fumbles.

Oct. 7, 1991

Introducing the new Arrowhead scene to the nation

Chiefs 33, Buffalo Bills 6

Monday Night Football made its first trip to Kansas City since 1983, and two years into the Marty Schottenheimer/Carl Peterson regime, the makeover of Arrowhead was underway. Sold-out crowds, barbecue-and-tailgating spectacle — Kansas Citians were enjoying football like they hadn’t since the AFL days. MNF announcer Dan Dierdorf was overwhelmed by the scene at Arrowhead: “I remember when I saw this thing back in 1972, when it opened — I was just dumbstruck,” Dierdorf said during the game. “I had never seen anything quite like it. And you know in the 20 years of its existence, I still haven’t seen anything quite like it.” Six sacks, two by Derrick Thomas, and five forced turnovers powered the Chiefs past a Bills team in the midst of four straight AFC championships.

Dec. 9, 1990

John Elway to Chiefs fans: Shhhh, please: We can’t hear

Chiefs 31, Denver Broncos 20

The Chiefs led 17-13 late in the third quarter and the Broncos were backed up to their 1. John Elway stepped under center, then pulled away and turned to the referee. The crowd noise was preventing his Denver teammates from hearing his signals. Believe it or not, there was once an NFL rule that penalized the home team for too much noise. Talk about the No Fun League. The officials asked the Chiefs’ defensive players, such as Derrick Thomas, to help quiet the crowd, then made an announcement that a timeout would be charged to the Chiefs if the fans didn’t pipe down. This silly rule lasted until 2007.

Nov. 11, 1990

Derrick Thomas got all the sacks, except the last one

Seattle Seahawks 17, Chiefs 16

Derrick Thomas had recorded an NFL-record seven sacks of Seahawks quarterback David Krieg. But on the final play of the game, Krieg wiggled free from what would have been Thomas’ eighth sack and completed a 25-yard touchdown pass for the game-winner. And that is how one of the greatest individual performances in NFL history didn’t produce a victory. “That last sack I didn’t get is the one I’m going to remember,” Thomas said.

Dec 13, 1987

Bo knows boos, playing for the Raiders

Chiefs 16, Los Angeles Raiders 10

Bo Jackson was a budding star for the Royals. And the Raiders. That conflict didn’t sit well with Chiefs fans when Jackson returned to Kansas City wearing the silver and black. Jackson had three rushes and one reception before leaving the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. During the game, boos were launched at Jackson ... and some baseballs were even thrown onto the field. A sign said, “T-Raider” — get it? Traitor. Said Jackson: “To have a city root against you, well, I can’t say it’s nice, but it’s an experience.’‘

Dec. 22, 1985

His Paige in the record book

Chiefs 38, San Diego Chargers 34

One of the smallest crowds (18.178) in stadium history showed up to see the Chiefs wrap up a losing season. What they also saw was NFL history: Wide receiver Stephone Paige turned in the game of a lifetime with 309 receiving yards set a new league record. He averaged 38 yards on eight receptions, with two touchdowns. Also, Paige caught passes from two quarterbacks that day — Bill Kenney and Todd Blackledge. The yardage is now the second-most in a game that didn’t go into overtime, and you have a lot of trivia answers for your next contest.

Aug. 12, 1972

A spine-tingling debut

Chiefs 24, St. Louis Cardinals 14

After years of planning, designing and delaying, Arrowhead Stadium opened for the 1972 preseason. And the first opponent was the cross-state St. Louis Cardinals (the NFL team that later moved to Arizona, not the Redbirds of Major League Baseball). Chiefs running back Ed Podolak scored the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run. A letter from Chiefs executive vice president and general manager Jack Steadman to Alex Petrovic, a Jackson County judge who was instrumental in early stages of the stadium complex plan, began:

“Dear Alex: Last Saturday night’s opening of Arrowhead must rank as one of the most exciting events ever to take place in the history of Kansas City. I doubt if I will ever again experience the spine-tingling exhilaration comparable to the roar of the crowd following our first touchdown. At that time, it seemed that everything all of us have worked so hard to achieve became worthwhile ...”

FOOTBALL, NOT CHIEFS

Oct. 22, 2011

After deadly tornado, Joplin High plays at Arrowhead

In May 2011, an F5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people. Joplin High’s football team was set to play a district contest at Raymore-Peculiar that fall. Instead, the game was moved to Arrowhead, with proceeds benefiting the Joplin schools’ tornado relief fund. Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel served as the unofficial team captain for Joplin and helped with the pre-game coin-flip. Ray-Pec would go on to victory that day, but it was a mostly uplifting experience for everyone involved. “It was fun up until the final whistle,” Joplin’s Evan Wilson, a senior defensive back, told the Joplin Globe. “I’m a lifelong Chiefs fans and this was a dream come true.”

Nov. 12, 2008

Reesing to Meier ... touchdown, Jayhawks!

Kansas 40, No. 12 Missouri 37

On a snowy day at Arrowhead, Kansas avenged the previous year’s loss to the Tigers by surviving a thriller. The game-winner, a 26-yard pass from Todd Reesing to Kerry Meier on fourth-and-7, became one of the most memorable plays in KU history. Mizzou had 27 seconds to make something happen and drove to the Kansas 36, but a last-play field-goal attempt from 54 yards away was partially blocked, and the Jayhawks celebrated.

Nov. 25, 2007

Epic battle to become No. 1 goes to Mizzou

No. 3 Missouri 36, No. 2 Kansas 28

In January, Missouri and Kansas agreed to move their annual series in football to Kansas City, but neither side could’ve in their wildest dreams envisioned the magnitude of their first meeting at Arrowhead. Kansas arrived as the nation’s second-ranked team with an 11-0 record. Mizzou was No. 3 at 10-1. Before kickoff, top-ranked LSU had played and lost, meaning this Border War game would be for No. 1 in the land. ESPN’s GameDay set up shop in the Arrowhead parking lot on a chilly evening; once the game began, Missouri took control early behind quarterback Chase Daniel, who passed for 361 yards, and the Tigers withstood a Jayhawks rally to win by eight. The announced crowd of 80,537 was the second-largest in Arrowhead history.

Dec. 6, 2003

Kansas State delivers shot heard ‘round college football

No. 15 Kansas State 35, No. 1 Oklahoma 7

The Sooners had steamrolled nearly every opponent headed into the Big 12 title game, and no one outside the Kansas State locker room saw this beatdown coming. Behind quarterback Ell Roberson’s four touchdown passes, and 323 yards from scrimmage from Darren Sproles, Kansas State scored the game’s final 35 points and recorded one of the biggest victories in program history. The Sooners appeared in all five Big 12 title games played at Arrowhead and won four of them. But not this one.

Oct. 17, 2002

MIAA powers begin long series in Kansas City

Northwest Missouri State 29, Pittsburg State 7

Major college games were becoming attractions at Arrowhead Stadium. How would Division II programs fare in the home of the NFL’s Chiefs? The first Fall Classic matched MIAA rivals Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State and drew an unofficial Division II-record 26,695. The teams continued playing at Arrowhead over the next dozen years, and other Division II and NAIA schools moved games to Kansas State over the next two decades.

Oct. 3, 1998

College football finds home in KC

No. 2 Nebraska 24, Oklahoma State 17

Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt wanted some marquee college football games to be played at Arrowhead Stadium. But it was a big ask, having teams surrender a home game to come to Kansas City. Finally, one did. Oklahoma State moved its game against Nebraska to Arrowhead for a $1.3 million guarantee. Would it sell? Absolutely. A capacity crowd of 79,555 watched the Cornhuskers clinch the victory with a goal-line stand. After this, college football became a regular event for the next 15 or so years at Arrowhead.

Jan. 20, 1974

The Pro Bowl comes to Kansas City ... once

AFC 15, NFL 13

The NFL All-Stars came to Kansas City on a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon. Chiefs linebacker Willie Lanier joined four Pittsburgh Steelers on the AFC’s starting defense. Former Kansas star John Hadl of the Rams was the NFC’s starting quarterback. The game moved slowly, with Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian providing all the points in the AFC’s 15-13 victory. After this contest, played before 66,918, the Pro Bowl was played in Florida, California, Hawaii or indoors — not chilly KC.

FUTBOL, NOT CHIEFS

July 25, 2010

Kansas City Wizards 2, Manchester United 1

The idea of Kansas City as a national soccer destination was fast-tracked on this night, when 52,342 fans — the most to ever see a soccer match in Kansas City — watched Davy Arnaud and Kei Karmara score first-half goals to take down a world power in an exhibition tilt. “Events like tonight’s ... I think will be a big selling point for both FIFA and U.S. Soccer when it comes time to make the decision on which stadium to bring the World Cup to,” said Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt. How right he was. Earlier this year, Arrowhead was awarded World Cup games for 2026.

April 13, 1996

MLS debuts at Arrowhead

Major League Soccer, a product of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, was created with Kansas City as an original franchise. The team was known as the Wiz in its first year before becoming the Wizards the next season. Vitalis “Digital” Takawira scored the first goal for the Wiz and had two of three in a 3-0 Kansas City triumph over the Colorado Rapide. Some 21,141 were on hand to watch. Today, the team nicknamed Wiz, then Wizards, is known as Sporting KC and plays at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

ENCORE PERFORMANCES

July 5, 2022

Kenny Chesney: “Thank you, Kansas City”

For the seventh time in a dozen years, country music superstar Chesney played Arrowhead Stadium ... and fans continued to turn out in droves. Chesney drew 57,852 No Shoes Nation devotees for his latest appearance on the Here and Now Tour, the most to see him play in Kansas City. “Thank you, Kansas City,” Chesney said on Instagram. “So much of what has happened to us on the road started here ... So connected because you care about the music and the experience of it all. Arrowhead, last night was magical, and I thank you.”

Aug. 7, 2021

Garth Brooks: Friends in low places (and all places at Arrowhead)

Garth Brooks knows Kansas City. He opened T-Mobile Center (then Sprint Center) with nine straight sellouts. His mother was born here. He’s been with the Royals during spring training. But until 2021, he had never played at Arrowhead. The debut made quite a splash. Some 74,500 tickets were sold, the most for a non-football event at the stadium at the time and the largest gathering for an event in Kansas City in the post-pandemic era.

Sept. 8, 2018

Taylor Swift attracts 58,000 “Swifties”

Swift’s second Arrowhead show — 2011 was her first — brought the pop star’s Reputation Tour to Kansas City. The Arrowhead crowd of 58,611 was a record at the time for concerts there. And they were all wearing color-synchronized LED wrist bands to light up the stadium.

July 6-8, 1984

Michael Jackson and The Jacksons open in KC

The Victory Tour opened with three shows at Arrowhead Stadium that attracted a total of 135,000 — and, at $30 per ticket, grossed more than $4 million. Most of the songs came off Michael Jackson’s wildly popular Thriller album. For the July 7 show, the 15-song set list began with “Want to Be Startin’ Somethin,’” rolled through encores of “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean,” and, for a final encore, delivered a stirring rendition of “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).”

Aug. 19, 1973

Elton John: Stadium concert comes to Arrowhead

The first major non-Chiefs act at Arrowhead Stadium was a concert headlined by Elton John on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Tour. Some 30,000 paid $7 per ticket to hear the British rocker’s 17-song setlist, which included “Rocketman” and “Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting.”

HEART OF AMERICA

March 20, 2021

Taking your shot for COVID-19

Some NFL stadiums didn’t allow fans to attend games in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chiefs did but limited attendance to 22% of capacity, meaning about 16,700 seats would be available for games. The largest crowd of the season, 16,993, attended the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game victory over the Buffalo Bills. Two months later, Arrowhead became a drive-thru vaccination destination. Some 8,000 shots were administered that day, which marked the first of two such events. The Chiefs and University of Kansas Health System provided vaccines and boosters to fans before the Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants on Nov. 1.

Nov. 3, 2020

Chiefs fans heard ... at the polls

For the first time, Arrowhead Stadium served as a polling place. The Chiefs organization teamed up with the Kansas City Election Board and “15 and the Mahomies” foundation to pull it off. Even superstar Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, the aforementioned charitable organization’s namesake founder, was getting out the word: “Finish the job,” Mahomes said at the time. “Go out there and vote, use your voice. No matter where you live, no matter who you’re voting for, use your voice and do whatever you think is best for you, this country and your family.”

Feb. 15, 2000

The final goodbye to Derrick Thomas

Arrowhead is where Chiefs fans got to pay their respects to the Chiefs great who died from a blood clot 16 days after an auto accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. Some 22,750 filed past the open casket under a tent in the end zone. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, general manager Carl Peterson and others from the Chiefs’ front office stood silently on the field. A week earlier, the day after Thomas died, thousands of fans held a candlelight vigil in the stadium’s parking lot.

This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.

Blair Kerkhoff

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4730

Blair Kerkhoff has covered sports for The Kansas City Star since 1989. He was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.