Arrowhead Stadium – First-Timer’s Guide

If you’re visiting Arrowhead Stadium for the first time, you should make a point to check out the most unique and important aspects of the venue. From the Hall of Honor to the Arrowhead Art Collection, this article features the best things for first-timers to do at Arrowhead Stadium.

Arrowhead Stadium

Kansas City, Missouri, has been the home of the Kansas City Chiefs since 1963. The team is a beloved part of the local community, and it’s been proven in the record books.

Arrowhead Stadium is the loudest outdoor stadium in the world. In 2014, The Guinness Book of World Records measured a deafening, and record-breaking, 142.2 decibels at Arrowhead Stadium during a Chiefs victory.

The noise level is similar to the decibels of a jet engine and is a point of pride for Chiefs fans. According to former Chiefs radio broadcaster Kevin Harlan, the stadium’s reign of auditory terror officially began during a game in 1990.

During that game, the crowd was so loud that the referee asked the fans to be quiet, a then-unprecedented request in an outdoor stadium.

“Its birth, if you will, was probably when those words came across that official’s microphone during that game,” Harlan says in an article from Chiefs.com.

Besides the record-breaking atmosphere at Arrowhead, there are a multitude of experiences there that all first-time visitors should take part in.

Hall of Honor

The first stop you should make is at the Chiefs Hall of Honor. Famed sports pioneer and Chiefs’ founder Lamar Hunt conceived the idea of a hall in 1968.

Hunt, who moved the Dallas Texans to Kansas City following the 1962 AFL season, wanted the hall “to be devoted to the Chiefs exclusively and should include interesting memorabilia.”

His idea finally came to fruition 48 years later, when the Hall of Honor officially opened in the summer of 2010.

Photo Credit: David Jones on Flickr.

The Hall of Honor is a 26,000-square-foot museum devoted not only to the history of the Chiefs but also the AFL. If you’re at Arrowhead Stadium, whether for a tour or game, you should definitely pay a visit to the hall.

It features bronze busts, artifacts, photographs, and narrated videos, all within the confines of beautiful Arrowhead Stadium.

There are also displays dedicated to historical black colleges and to the Chiefs integral role in professional football’s integration. The Chiefs were the first organization with a majority black team to win a Superbowl when they won in 1969.

The Hall of Honor is so important to the Arrowhead Stadium experience that it is featured in all three of the stadium’s available tours. More on that below.

Tours

If you want to learn the complete history of Arrowhead Stadium, go on one of the tours offered there. They’re an easy and affordable way to make your trip to Kansas City a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The stadium offers public guided tours, private guided tours, and game-day tours. They’re all available for purchase on the Chiefs’ official website.

Guided tours of Arrowhead Stadium take you through the stadium and highlight its many amenities. Visitors will see the press box, Club Level, locker room, field, and Hall of Honor. Public tours are typically offered on Fridays and Saturdays.

Game-day tours are a bit different than guided ones. They include a journey through the press box just like the guided tour but are followed by 20 minutes on the sidelines for pregame activities.

Tailgating

Photo Credit: Elisfkc on Flickr.

Arrowhead Stadium is not only known for its decibel levels. Chiefs fans are also famous for hosting incredible tailgates before the games. A visit to Arrowhead Stadium; or Kansas City in general, for that matter; isn’t complete without attending a Chiefs tailgate.

Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by a combination of smoke, barbecue, and the color red. This, along with Chiefs fans’ incredible passion, creates one of the most impressive game-day experiences in professional sports.

Though the lots don’t open until 8:30 a.m., fans line up well before the sun rises. Chiefs tailgates also feature a currency other than money: bacon. So if you’re looking to connect with people and make some new friends, bring a bacon-forward dish with you to the tailgate.

The tailgate experience also includes a drum line, hundreds of Chiefs-themed vehicles, and an occasional visit from Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

Chiefs Sports Lab

Arrowhead Stadium is also home to a unique health and fitness lab for children. To promote the NFL’s Play 60 initiative and fundamentals of healthy living, the Chiefs Sports Lab was added to the stadium’s already impressive roster of amenities.

According to the Chiefs website, the percentage of overweight children in the United States has tripled since the 1970s. One out of five children is obese or overweight in the Kansas City area. The Chiefs are dedicated to improving the quality of life for their community, and thus, created the Sports Lab.

The Sports Lab has a multitude of informative lessons for children of all ages. It features brain games, a model of the digestive system, and an injury prevention center that highlights the importance of stretching.

It also provides visitors with an opportunity to learn valuable tips about living a healthy lifestyle. The Sports Lab has stations that teach children how to read nutrition labels, how to count calories, and more.

Arrowhead Art Collection

Arrowhead Stadium underwent renovations in 2010. Around this time, the Hunt family and the Kansas City Chiefs introduced plans to install an art collection at the stadium. According to the official website, they wanted to “celebrate regional art while providing educational opportunities and engaging the community.”

Sharron Hunt, chairwoman of the art program, said, “Arts and sports do not need to live in separate silos, they can occupy the same space, in a sense that we now have this great collection at the stadium.” The art collection provides visitors with a truly unique experience when visiting Arrowhead Stadium.

As of 2020, the collection is comprised of 37 beautiful pieces of art. The Chiefs’ goal was to create an engaging and interesting experience for the community, and this art collection certainly does just that.

The art comes from artists based in the surrounding area. In response to a call for art from the Chiefs, samples were sent in by artists from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Finally, the submissions were reviewed and selected to create a stunning collection of art.