I was fortunate enough to be in Kansas City for the game Monday night. It was far better than sulking on my couch. I had a great and relatively cheap opportunity to see the Pats at Arrowhead Stadium, as well as a Kansas State home game on Saturday afternoon. The football experience out there is such a stark contrast to here in New England. I am almost embarrassed. And I am not just talking crowd noise....
First and foremost, the games are true events. These aren't corporate get-togethers. The focus of everyone there is the game itself. It's about the team. It's was a volatile sea of red. Not since the old stadium have I been to a game where you only sit at the commercials. Sure there have been some games where it's like that for the first quarter or the end of a big game (sometimes), but never like KC Monday night. You can say it was the score, but I have seen plenty of massacres at Gillette and the crowd gets spoiled and bored by the 2nd quarter, then off to beat the traffic at halftime on a Sunday afternoon.
From the opening presentation (which I am told is standard, not just rolled out for Monday night) to the multiple chants and traditions that the ENTIRE stadium performs in unison, it was an experience like no other. No one had to remind them it's third down, no one has to plead with the crowd to at least clap, let alone standup (cuz they already were). First down was as loud as third all the way through the 4th quarter of a blowout. At Gillette, I think the most common chant I hear is "Down in front!" in a wind or a loss.
It was a smaller scale but similar experience at KState. Families in a sea of purple, cheering the team, chanting in unision, partying together. Both experiences, even as "the enemy", were amazing. People were respectful from outside of the stadium, through the game and after.
We don't have that energy here. We don't have a place that fosters such a positive vibe. It was like the team and the fans were in sync and in this thing together. It's probably a cultural thing. I don't know that it can be duplicated here given our rough and negative nature, but man, if I am going to drop down over $300 bucks to see my team, I want a true football experience, not just free wi-fi. The value of a ticket to Gillette dropped significantly for me, even if the team had won... or at least showed up.
I'll post later about the venue and food quality (IN stadium) a little later as I think that is part of what makes Arrowhead a special place for fans.
