Arrowhead Stadium is one of the oldest facilities in the NFL, also falling within the top five in terms of seating capacity. The initial plan for construction was ambitious, calling for a pair of venues side-by-side with a shared roof. After it was determined that this plan would be expensive, the current open-air design was approved instead. Construction finished after four years of work, with the stadium opening its doors to the public for the first time on August 12th, 1972. The first match featured the Chiefs defeating the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 24-14. This facility is located on the eastern fringes of Kansas City, near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435. 

Arrowhead underwent a significant renovation between 2007 and 2010, with an overall cost of $375 million. Part of the cost was donated by the Hunt family, which ended up paying $125 million after initially promising $75 million for the project. This renovation was part of an $850 million plan to rebuild both Arrowhead and nearby Kauffman Stadium. A retractable roof, which would have allowed Kansas City to bid for Super Bowl XLIX, was rejected by taxpayers as an unnecessary additional cost.

Kansas City Chiefs Stadium

The fans of the Kansas City Chiefs are known for being especially vociferous, battling the fans of the Seattle Seahawks as the loudest in the league. For the October 13th match between the Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, the crowd earned a world record for loudest stadium by recording a noise level of 137.5 dB, which was broken by Seattle fans on December 2nd of the same year, with a noise rating of 137.6 dB. Less than a year later, against the New England Patriots, Kansas City regained the record through a noise level that measured an ear-shattering 142.2 dB.

Despite the enthusiasm of the Chiefs fanbase, the squad has had a below average home winning record over the past five years, going 22-18 for a .550 winning percentage. In addition to the noise, visiting teams have to deal with weather conditions that trend towards cold and windy.

After using AstroTurf for a couple of decades, Arrowhead Stadium switched to a natural turf surface despite the difficulties involved. Since 1994, the playing surface has consisted of Latitude 36 Bermuda Grass. The NFLPA has considered Arrowhead a below-average natural playing field in the league, ranked 8th worst in the 2010 survey and 7th worst in the 2008 player survey.

Stadium Vitals

Date Opened: August 12th, 1972

Construction Cost: $43 million, $375 million renovation completed in 2010

Architect: Populous; Kivett and Myers

Capacity Attendance: 76,416

Playing Surface: Latitude 36 Bermuda Grass

Previous Kansas City Chiefs Stadiums

Municipal Stadium; Cotton Bowl

Other Major Events 

College Football

Plenty of big-time college football events have taken place at Arrowhead over the past decade or so, including Big 12 Conference football championship games between Kansas State and Oklahoma in 2000 and 2003, Colorado and Oklahoma in 2004, Nebraska and Oklahoma in 2006 and Missouri and Oklahoma in 2008.

The second largest crowd to pack the stadium witnessed the 2007 Border Showdown, with 80,537 fans watching the Kansas Jayhawks lose to the Missouri Tigers by a score of 36-28.