A recent study ranked the Kansas City Chiefs with the best tailgate experience in the NFL. While their methodology included things like food reviews and average ticket cost, we can say with complete certainty that the thing that separates the Chiefs Kingdom’s tailgates from the rest is commitment.
Ahead of the AFC’s divisional-round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chiefs fans arrived at the parking gates for GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. That’s 14.5 hours ahead of the parking gates opening and 19 hours ahead of the game’s kickoff.
KMBC’s Peyton Headlee captured an image of the fans waiting in line last night. The fans told her that they were, “running late.”
The Chiefs game starts at 3:30pm tomorrow. @kmbc
Fans are already in line at Arrowhead.
These fans got here at 8:30pm. They said they were “running late” and had hoped to get there a little earlier. #ChiefsKingdom, man. pic.twitter.com/2HyDTi02R2
— Peyton Headlee KMBC (@PeytonKMBC) January 21, 2023
These fans don’t wait for the gates to open either, they start tailgating as soon as they line up at the parking gates.
NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe and James Palmer heard the same thing from the fans at the front of the line this morning — a line that by 9:37 a.m. was quite long.
Rolling in at 9:37a on @nflnetwork carpool with @JamesPalmerTV: Look at this long line of Chiefs fans waiting to get into tailgate. Fans at the front told us they got here at 9p last night! pic.twitter.com/MJodhcbLt8
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) January 21, 2023
If the line gets any longer and begins to cause traffic on the local freeways, the Chiefs will likely get word to open the parking gates early. For afternoon games, they’ve opened as early as 10:00 a.m. in the past.
For a full timeline of when the festivities begin at Arrowhead Stadium, check here.
