Arrowhead Stadium

Arrowhead Stadium (commonly The Sea of Red or simply Arrowhead) is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri and home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.

It is part of the city's Truman Sports Complex (together with Kauffman Stadium). The stadium is commonly referred to as the "Home of the CHIEFS" at the beginning of every home game during the singing of the national anthem. It is the 27th largest stadium in North America and fourth largest NFL Stadium in seating capacity; behind only Cowboys Stadium, New Meadowlands Stadium, and FedEx Field. It is the largest sports facility, by capacity, in the state of Missouri.

A $375 million renovation of the stadium was completed in 2010.

Pre-construction
In January 1967, the Chiefs played in the first Super Bowl. In October of that year, team owner Charlie Finley finally won approval from Major League Baseball to move the Kansas City Athletics to Oakland, California and out of the aging Municipal Stadium and its inner city neighborhood. The City of Kansas City was unable to find a suitable location for a stadium so Jackson County, Missouri stepped in and offered a suburban location on the extreme east edge of Kansas City near the interchange of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435.

Voters in 1967 approved a $102 million bond issue to build a new sports complex with two stadiums. The original design called for construction of side-by-side baseball and football stadiums with a common roof that would roll between them. The design proved to be more complicated and expensive than originally thought and so was scrapped in favor of the current open-air configuration. The two-stadium complex concept was the first of its kind. The Chiefs staff, led by Jack Steadman, helped develop the complex.

Construction
Construction began in 1968. The original two-stadium concept was initially designed by Denver architect Charles Deaton and Steadman. Deaton's design was implemented by the Kansas City architectural firm of Kivett & Myers. Arrowhead is considered by some to have had an influence on the design of several future NFL stadiums.

1970s
Construction on Arrowhead Stadium was completed in time for the 1972 season. On August 12, 1972, The Chiefs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 24–14 in the first game at Arrowhead Stadium. Later on in the 1972 season, the largest crowd to see a game in Arrowhead Stadium was 82,094 in a Chiefs game against the Oakland Raiders on November 5.

On January 20, 1974, Arrowhead Stadium hosted the Pro Bowl. Due to an ice storm and brutally cold temperatures the week leading up to the game, the game's participants worked out at the facilities of the San Diego Chargers. On game day, the temperature soared to 41 degrees, melting most of the ice and snow that accumulated during the week. The AFC defeated the NFC by a score of 15–13.

1980s–present
In 1984, the Jackson County Sports Authority re-evaluated the concept of a dome (a fabric one). The concept was disregarded as being unnecessary and financially impractical.

In 1991, two Diamond Vision screens shaped as footballs were installed. In 1994 other improvements were made and a grass playing surface was installed, replacing the original AstroTurf artificial turf.

With the formation of Major League Soccer in 1996, Arrowhead became home to the Kansas City Wizards. They left after the 2007 season so that construction work on Arrowhead's renovation could take place during the NFL off-season (see below). The Wizards built their own stadium in 2008 and did not return to Arrowhead.

The 2007 Border Showdown between the BCS-ranked #2 Kansas Jayhawks and #3 Missouri Tigers drew the second largest crowd in stadium history, at 80,537 (with the Tigers winning 36-28).

In 2009, Arrowhead Stadium completed the installation of a multimillion-dollar integrated system from Daktronics out of Brookings, South Dakota. Two high definition video displays were retrofitted into the existing football-shaped displays in both end zones. Approximately 1,625 feet of digital ribbon board technology was also installed in the stadium.

On July 25, 2010, Kansas City Wizards played Manchester United as Manchester United's 3rd pre-season friendly in America during 2010 at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Due to ticket demand, they could not play the game at Wizard's 10,000 Capacity stadium. The match ended with Kansas City beating the Manchester Club 2-1 with Dimitar Berbatov scoring the only goal for Manchester United on a penalty kick.

In 2011, Arrowhead Stadium (along with 8 other stadiums) was considered for hosting WrestleMania XXVIII, but lost to Miami. Governor Sly James said that "we will not give up on hosting this event."

College football
Arrowhead Stadium has hosted five Big 12 Conference football championship games: Kansas State versus Oklahoma in 2000 and 2003, Colorado versus Oklahoma in 2004, Nebraska versus Oklahoma on December 2, 2006, and Missouri versus Oklahoma in 2008.

Since 2007, Arrowhead has hosted the Border Showdown between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers. The 2007 game drew a near-record 80,537 fans, the 2nd largest crowd since its opening in 1972.

In 2009 and 2010, Arrowhead hosted football games between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Kansas State Wildcats. |1

The stadium also plays host to the annual Fall Classic at Arrowhead, a Division II game featuring Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State University. The 2004 game featured No. 1 Pittsburg State defeating No. 2 Northwest Missouri State in the only Division II game to feature the nation's top two teams playing in the regular season finale.

Renovations
On April 4, 2006, Jackson County voters approved a tax increase to finance municipal bonds to pay for $850 million in renovations to Arrowhead and nearby Kauffman Stadium. Before the bond election, the NFL awarded the 49th Super Bowl in 2015 to Kansas City provided it have a climate controlled stadium. With the passing of the stadium bill, the Chiefs signed a new lease which ensures that the team will remain at Arrowhead until at least 2031.

However, a second bond issue to put a rolling roof over the stadium was defeated by voters, and Kansas City chose to withdraw its request to host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

On August 15, 2007, the Chiefs announced final plans for the renovated Arrowhead Stadium, which would cost $375 million. The cost to the city was reduced by $50 million thanks to an additional payment by the Hunt family, which originally had intended to donate just $75 million. The renovated stadium will feature the Chiefs Hall of Honor, currently known as the Chiefs Hall of Fame; a tribute to Lamar Hunt; and "horizon level" seating in which luxury suite owners will be sitting outdoors.

Reconstruction for the stadiums started on October 3, 2007. Refurbishment of nearby Kauffman Stadium, home to the Kansas City Royals baseball team, commenced at that time, and both stadiums were ready for play by the 2010 season.

Stadium music
From 1960 to 2008, the TD Pack Band was a mainstay at every Chiefs home game. The band was founded by trumpeter Tony DiPardo. The band was previously known as The Zing Band while the Chiefs played at Municipal Stadium. DiPardo, nicknamed "Mr. Music," was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 15, 1912. DiPardo has written songs about the team such as "The Chiefs are on the Warpath" and "The Hank Stram Polka." DiPardo earned a Super Bowl ring for the Chiefs' victory in Super Bowl IV. Since 1989 DiPardo's daughter Patti DiPardo-Livergood has led the band due to her father's declining health. The band played live music for the crowd from a stand located in the southeast end-zone.

DiPardo performed the song "Taps" on his trumpet at the Chiefs' December 31, 2006 home game against the Jaguars in tribute to Lamar Hunt. Hunt had died weeks prior to the game.

At the end of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a Chiefs game, the fans yell "Chiefs!" in place of "brave" in the closing lyric.

Concerts

 * Deep Purple - August 28, 1974, with Elf and The J. Geils Band
 * The Rolling Stones - June 6, 1975 and October 8, 1989
 * ZZ Top - August 29, 1975 and July 11, 1976
 * Summer Jam - June 17, 1979, June 27, 1980 and May 30 and August 15, 1982
 * The Jacksons - July 6–8, 1984 (They kicked off their tour here, performing to a total of 135,000 fans.)
 * Pink Floyd - May 26, 1988 and June 20, 1994
 * Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come - July 10, 1988 (Monsters of Rock Festival Tour)
 * The Who - August 5, 1989
 * Guns N' Roses and Metallica - September 17, 1992, with Body Count
 * U2 - October 18, 1992, with The Sugarcubes and Public Enemy and May 19, 1997, with Fun Lovin' Criminals
 * Paul McCartney - May 31, 1993
 * George Strait Country Music Festival - May 12, 2001
 * 'N Sync - July 10, 2001