When, where would Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade take place? Here’s a look at the planning
You can’t have a Super Bowl parade without a victory. But you must plan for one well in advance.
Using its recent sports parade-planning experience as a guide, Kansas City is doing that now. It would be KC’s third such event in the past eight years.
Sometime late in the evening of Feb. 12, after the Chiefs meet the Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl LVII, we’ll know which city gets to follow through with its parade plans.
“We’re getting ready; you have to,” said Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and VisitKC. “Having had parades, we’ve picked up some lessons along the way.”
Kansas City held parades for the World Series-winning Royals in 2015 and the Chiefs, who won Super Bowl LIV, after the 2019 season.
The Chiefs also reached the Super Bowl after the 2020 season, but because of the pandemic, a traditional parade wasn’t planned (or needed, as the Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
Both parades attracted hundreds of thousands of fans, who lined Grand Boulevard and gathered at Union Station for a celebratory rally.
Nelson said the parade route is among the details that need to be finalized. Grand Boulevard could serve as the main route again, but that’s not set in stone.
City officials consider security, best routes for not disrupting traffic too much, viewing angles for fans and “what route would provide the best feel of the city,” Nelson said.
Previous victory parades through Kansas City have started at different places. Royals players and officials gathered at T-Mobile Center (then known as Sprint Center) at 14th Street, went north for a few blocks and then turned around, picking up Grand at Truman Road before heading to Union Station.
The Chiefs’ parade started on Sixth Street and remained on Grand until making a final turn on Pershing Road to the final destination — also Union Station.
The other big unknown: When would a parade happen? The Royals beat the New York Mets in Game 5 to clinch the World Series on a Sunday, and the championship parade was on a Tuesday.
The Chiefs won on a Sunday and their parade was on Wednesday.
Something else to keep in mind: Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, is a Tuesday this year, the Tuesday after the Super Bowl.
Could that also be pinpointed as a day of love for the Chiefs? It’s possible, which would mean disruption to downtown restaurants on what would already be a busy occasion.
This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "When, where would Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade take place? Here’s a look at the planning."