KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Wide receiver Tim Brown made it all the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame but he never attended a game at his hometown Texas Stadium until he was a player in the NFL.
“I grew up in Dallas and the Cowboys were very good during the mid-’70s and late-’70s,” Brown said. “I never stepped in Cowboys stadium until I was an LA Raider because we couldn’t afford to go to the games.”
Now that he’s commissioner of the upstart Arena League he’s determined to make sure high costs don’t keep young football fans away from the action, and he’s invited a former rival from the Chiefs to help the cause.
Brown was in Kansas City Monday to formally introduce the Kansas City Goats, one of four teams that will kick off the league’s inaugural campaign in June 2024. They join the Ozarks Lunkers playing in Springfield, the Waterloo Woo based in Iowa, and an unnamed Duluth, Minnesota franchise in the new league. The league plans an eight-game regular season with two preseason games in its initial campaign. The Goats will play home games at Municipal Auditorium in Downtown Kansas City.
Brown said Kansas City football fans impressed him during his play days, with one trait that made it a natural location for a franchise in his new league.
“One of the things I would always say about the fans in Kansas City is I always thought that they were the most intelligent fan base that I ever played in front of,” Brown said. “Now that wasn’t good for us. But it was a real deal where you knew this fan base knew when to when to cheer, when not to cheer, and I just thought that was a beautiful thing. Being here I think is appropriate because this fan base certainly deserves it.”
Former Kansas City running back Christian Okoye, who is a member of the club’s Hall of Fame, is among the new team’s ownership group. Local restauranteur George Gates II and Sports Radio 810 host Steven St. John were also introduced as among the local owners. St. John will also serve as a community ambassador for the franchise.
Brown said Okoye’s was the first name he thought of getting involved with the Kansas City franchise because of his community work locally and across the nation.
Okoye was intrigued immediately when Brown reached out to him about joining the Arena League.
“I knew that his heart was going to be in the right place,” Brown said. “And bringing in these other gentlemen, we know that what we’re trying to accomplish with his league, it’s going to be done through these owners for sure. This group is doing this for all the right reasons.”
“I think will be exciting,” Okoye said. “It’s different from the football that I know, football that anybody else knows. The fans will be engaged. And again, they’ll be talking to the players, they’ll hear the players in the game and everything. It will be different.”
The Arena League aims to place a premium on the pace of play, connection with fans and affordability. Teams will consist of 15-player rosters with 6-on-6 action on the field rather than the traditional 8-on-8 style normally associated with indoor football. The field will be 50 yards long and 85 feet wide with padded walls.
“We want to make this game very fast, very, very fast,” Brown said. “(A) 20-second play clock, there’s going to be one referee, the other referees are gonna be up in the booth. They’re going to call fouls from up in the booth. The fans will be able to listen to the plays via call, they’ll be able to listen to the conversation between the players and the coaches. We want to give the fans all the access we can possibly.”
Kickers won’t be a part of the indoor game either, so there will be no field goals, kickoffs or punts. Teams can try for a conversion instead of onside kicks, and kickoffs will be replaced by quarterback throws.
While ticket prices haven’t been announced yet, Brown said every effort is being made to keep costs low. He also pointed toward Municipal Auditorium’s location providing geographic access for fans.
“We don’t want (cost) to be an issue here, and it won’t be an issue because we’ll announce the prices of the tickets, people are gonna understand that this is not about a money grab,” Brown explained. “This is really about giving the community something else to do during the summer and on a Saturday afternoon, so that’s what it’s all about.”
Okoye had a similar experience to Brown regarding attending NFL games. At age 25, his agent took him to his first game – coincidentally in Brown’s hometown of Dallas – when he was considering a football career to see what it was like.
“If you get a chance to go to an NFL game, considered yourself lucky because they’re expensive,” Okoye said. “But games like this and a league like is, you’re going to have the same kind of entertainment watching football, and they’re also engaged in the game as well, getting to meet the players and hearing everything about the game through the loudspeaker system. It’s gonna be interesting. It’s gonna be fun.”
