Arrowhead Stadium is an American football stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL), and has also hosted other soccer games and college football games for regional teams. Arrowhead Stadium hosted multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It was built at the same time as neighboring Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals, which together form the Truman Sports Complex. Opened in 1972, Arrowhead is currently the oldest stadium in the American Football Conference (AFC). It has a seating capacity of 76,416 making it the 25th-largest stadium in the United States and the sixth-largest NFL stadium. It is also the largest sports facility by capacity in the state of Missouri. A $375 million renovation was completed in 2010.
History The Dallas Texans of the American Football League (AFL) relocated to Kansas City in 1963 and rebranded as the Chiefs. They played their home games at Municipal Stadium, sharing the stadium with the Kansas City Athletics of Major League Baseball. After the 1967 season, the Athletics relocated to Oakland, California, and the expansion Kansas City Royals arrived in 1969.
Built in 1923 and mostly rebuilt in 1955, Municipal Stadium seated approximately 35,000 for football; as part of the AFL–NFL merger announced in 1966, NFL stadiums would henceforth be required to seat no fewer than 50,000. The loss of the A's was a shock to local sports fans and community leaders and there was a growing sense that government subsidy of a stadium complex would be necessary to keep major league baseball and professional football in the city.Chuck Benedict, "The Story of a Great Stadium," Petersen's 14th Pro Football Annual, 1974, p. 48.
When Kansas City was unable to find a suitable location for a new stadium, Jackson County stepped in and offered a location on the eastern edge of town near the interchange of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435. Voters approved a $102 million bond issue in 1967 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. This design proved to be more complicated and expensive than originally thought and so was scrapped in favor of a more conventional open-air configuration. The Chiefs staff, led by team general manager Jack Steadman, helped develop the complex.Chuck Benedict, "The Story of a Great Stadium," p. 44.
Construction
Construction began in 1968. The original two-stadium concept was initially designed by Denver architect Charles Deaton and Steadman. The baseball and football stadiums have a very different appearance, but share utilities, parking, and underground storage. Plans to have covered stadiums were dropped, leaving two open-air stadiums. Lamar Hunt included an owner's suite, complete with three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room, to the design of the football stadium. To increase seating while limiting the stadium's footprint, the upper sections were placed at a steep incline which cannot be replicated in modern stadiums due to accessibility regulations.
Deaton's design was implemented by the Kansas City architectural firm of Kivett & Myers. Arrowhead Stadium is considered by some to have had an influence on the design of several future NFL stadiums. Construction of the stadium was a joint venture Sharp-Kidde-Webb construction firms.
1970s
Construction on Arrowhead Stadium was completed in time for the 1972 preseason. On Saturday night, August 12, the Chiefs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 24–14 in the first NFL preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium.
In the regular season opener at Arrowhead Stadium on September 17, the Chiefs were defeated 20–10 by the Miami Dolphins; the teams had met in the previous postseason on Christmas Day in the divisional round, the final football game at Municipal Stadium. The Dolphins won with a field goal in double-overtime; at 82 minutes and forty seconds, the game remains as the longest in NFL history.
That first season, the largest attendance at Arrowhead Stadium (82,094) saw the Chiefs defeat the divisional rival Oakland Raiders 27–14 on November 5th for their first regular season victory in their new home.
In 1973, the stadium was the first in the NFL to include arrows on the yard markers to indicate the nearer goal line. (Initially, they resembled little arrowheads.) This practice eventually spread to the other NFL stadiums during the 1970s, becoming mandatory league-wide for the 1978 season (after being used in Super Bowl XII), and became almost near-universal at lower levels of football.
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 , melting most of the ice and snow that accumulated during the week. The AFC defeated the NFC, 15–13.
1980s–present
In 1984, the Jackson County Sports Authority re-evaluated the concept of a fabric dome. The concept was disregarded as being unnecessary and financially impractical. Arrowhead hosted the Drum Corps International World Championships in 1988 and 1989.
In 1991, two Diamond Vision screens shaped as footballs were installed. In 1994, other improvements were made and natural grass playing surface was installed, replacing the original artificial AstroTurf playing field.
In 2009, Arrowhead Stadium completed the installation of a multimillion-dollar integrated system from Daktronics. Two high definition video displays were retrofitted into the existing football-shaped displays in both end zones. Approximately of digital ribbon board technology was also installed in the stadium.
In 2013, Arrowhead Stadium started using a new playing surface known as NorthBridge Bermudagrass. The reason the team made the switch was due to the cold weather tolerance, rapid recovery, and aggressive rooting.
A naming rights deal with GEHA, based in nearby Lee's Summit, resulted in the adoption of the alternative name GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium beginning March 2021. The agreement began at the start of the 2021 season and was slated to end in January 2031 with the expiration of the leases for the Chiefs and Royals with Truman Sports Complex owner, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.
Arrowhead Stadium was one of the hosts for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and it is scheduled to undergo small renovations in the years ahead. Seating capacity was reduced in the corners of the end zones to comply with FIFA field regulations. Space also had to be made for hospitality and media seating (outside of the stadium's already existing press box). The field also underwent improvement to its ventilation system. In February 2024, renovations were announced and showcased. The renovations were scheduled to begin in 2027 if an extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax from Jackson County, Missouri, voters was approved; however, the sales tax extension failed to pass.
On December 22, 2025, the team announced their intention to leave Arrowhead Stadium for a new stadium to be built in Wyandotte County, Kansas, scheduled to open in time for the 2031 NFL season and paving the way for Arrowhead Stadium to be demolished following the 2031 NFL season.
The original "Arrowhead Stadium" moniker was restored on August 5, 2026.
Noise record
In 1990 in a game against the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs were threatened with a penalty if the crowd would not quiet down. After John Elway was backed up to his own goal line and unable to even run a play he quickly spoke to referee Gordon McCarter. After listening to Elway, McCarter said "Any further crowd-noise problem will result in a charged timeout against Kansas City. Thank you for your cooperation."
On October 13, 2013, in a game between the Chiefs and Oakland Raiders, the crowd at the stadium set a Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium, with 137.5 dB. That record would be broken by Seattle Seahawks fans at CenturyLink Field on December 2, 2013, at a home game against the New Orleans Saints. Seattle gained the record by reaching a noise level of 137.6 decibels. The Chiefs reclaimed the title on September 29, 2014, in a Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots, hitting 142.2 decibels.
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.
From 2007 to 2011, Arrowhead Stadium hosted the Border War between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers. The 2007 game between the No. 2 Jayhawks and No. 3 Tigers, dubbed "Armageddon at Arrowhead" by media and fans, drew the second largest crowd in stadium history, at 80,537, with the Tigers winning 36–28. Kansas also played Oklahoma at Arrowhead in 2005. Missouri played Arkansas State in 2005 and BYU in 2015 as home games at Arrowhead. Missouri was scheduled to play Arkansas in 2020; however, the game location was changed to Columbia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2009 and 2010, Arrowhead Stadium hosted the annual "Farmageddon" game (a reference to the shared agricultural roots of the two competing schools) between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Kansas State Wildcats. Iowa State previously played at Arrowhead against the Florida State Seminoles in the 2002 Eddie Robinson Classic, while Kansas State played Cal in the 2003 Eddie Robinson Classic.
In 1998, Oklahoma State moved its scheduled home game vs. Nebraska to Arrowhead. The move was done to boost attendance and revenue: Lewis Field in Stillwater sat less than 50,000 fans at that time, the Huskers were the defending national champions, and with many Nebraska supporters living only a few hours' drive via Interstate 29 from Arrowhead, it made sense for a program which, at the time, was one of the Big XII's lesser teams.
The stadium also played host to the annual Fall Classic at Arrowhead, a Division II game that featured two nearby powerhouse programs in Northwest Missouri State University 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.
For the 2024 season, Kansas played four conference home games at the stadium due to renovations at their stadium.
+ Non-annual College Football gamesDateWinnerLoserScoreAttendance October 3, 1998 Nebraska Oklahoma State 24–17 79,555 August 26, 2000 Kansas State Iowa 27-7 77,148 August 24, 2002 Florida State Iowa State 38–31 55,132 August 23, 2003 Kansas State California 42–28 50,823 September 3, 2005 Missouri Arkansas State 44–17 32,906 October 15, 2005 Oklahoma Kansas 19–3 54,109 November 14, 2015 Missouri* BYU 20–16 42,824 September 28, 2024 TCU Kansas 38–27 47,928 October 19, 2024 Kansas Houston 42–14 38,619 November 9, 2024 Kansas Iowa State 45–36 51,109 November 23, 2024 Kansas Colorado 37–21 56,470 August 28, 2025 Nebraska Cincinnati 20–17 72,884
Soccer
With the formation of Major League Soccer in 1996, Arrowhead Stadium became home to the Kansas City Wiz, now known as Sporting Kansas City. After the 1996 season, the team was renamed the Wizards. They left after the 2007 season, after being sold by the Hunt Family to On Goal, LLC, once their lease ended. This was also beneficial so that construction work on Arrowhead Stadium's renovation could take place during the NFL off-season. The Wizards moved to CommunityAmerica Ballpark, now known as Legends Field, in 2008 and did not return to Arrowhead except for one friendly.