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The Kansas City Chiefs issued a release with the headline "Parking Enhancements Announced".
That depends on your viewpoint.
Here is the Chiefs press release on their parking changes, which includes routing changes to make parking more efficient as well as a price hike.
The good
- The Chiefs did some work last year with a parking analytics company that will help them route cars so that Chiefs fans can enter the stadium in the most efficient way possible.
- All traffic will now flow to the right to increase efficiency.
- For season ticket holders, the Chiefs will be recommending an entry based on how you've entered the stadium in the past. Good use of data.
- Overall, the Chiefs are trying to speed up the parking process, which is a very good thing for those who have been stuck in a line at a quarter to noon.
- The Chiefs parking price remains slightly under last year's league average.
The bad
- Less places to enter the stadium for cash payers. Gate 5 (the one off of 435 which runs past the practice facility) will no longer take cash, only prepaid parking passes.
- The Chiefs said there was "heavy traffic congestion" at that gate, which suggests a lot of people will be required to change their entrance.
- If shutting down Gate 5 to cash payers increases efficiency for everyone, it will be a good thing ... but not necessarily for those people who used to enter through Gate 5 that now can't (like me, since that's my entrance ... if I were a paying customer and not some media bum).
The ugly
- The hidden headline almost 500 words into the press release is that the Chiefs are raising the cost of parking at Arrowhead.
- Last year it was $27 to park and this year it will be $30. You can purchase parking passes in advance for $27.
What's interesting here is that the Chiefs are almost a victim of their own success. They want parking to be smooth and they want fans in their seats early. That's hard to do when you have one of the best tailgating scene in America.
I don't know how it would work but it would be cool if the Chiefs could tie parking to winning and losing. On games they win, folks are charged $35 to park. On games they lose, they're charged $25.
What would you do?