KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Supply and demand certainly drives the price of NFL playoff tickets through the roof, but that’s not why Kansas City Chiefs fans will see a 50 percent price hike to $60 for paying at gate for Sunday’s playoff game. The team wants fans to prepay online and leave their cash at home.
Fans file into the Truman Sports Complex parking lots for a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium, Dec. 18, 2016. (Photo by Matt Derrick, ChiefsDigest.com)
“I don’t want anyone to pay $60 to park here,” team president Mark Donovan said. “Buy in advance.”
Season ticket holders who purchase a parking pass as part of their package pay $30 for parking. That’s the same price fans pay online during the regular season. Drivers how choose to pay at the gate hand over $40 during the regular season.
Sunday’s playoff game advanced parking passes are $35 plus fees. That’s a modest increase for the post season. But the $60 game day price tag for parking is meant to offer a serious incentive to pay for parking in advance.
“That person who comes up and tries to pay for parking creates a delay,” Donovan said. “That delays impacts that person who’s waiting to get in. If we can eliminate that through passes, we’re going to incent you to do that.”
Donovan said prepaid passes scanned at the gate speeds up the time required to process vehicles in to the sports complex. That improves the fan experience, he said.
“The reality is that we’re creating the incentive so that people can get through the gates quicker, so we can process them,” Donovan explained. “And that impacts the majority of the fans.”
Donovan called the game a virtual sellout already, with only single seats and some club tickets still available. It remains possible the league might release some tickets back to Chiefs later this week.
That crowd also means a parking nightmare for the team. The sports complex contains just under 19,000 paved parking spaces. Big games such as Sunday’s playoff matchup routinely brings more than 24,000 cars to the complex.
Parking gates at Arrowhead Stadium open at 6:30 a.m. Open parking during the first hour allows fans to choose their preferred location in their designated lot. After that, drivers must park in the first open space available.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com and the Topeka Capital-Journal. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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