Old Arrowhead seats could be available for purchase before regular season begins

According to a report from Mike Hendricks in the Kansas City Star, Kansas City Chiefs fans might be able to purchase Arrowhead Stadium seats that have been removed during the stadium’s upper-deck renovation as early as the beginning of the regular season in September.

After reviewing bids submitted by a number of possible vendors, Jackson County legislators will consider a proposal submitted by Schneider Industries Inc. of St. Louis and S&S Seating Inc. of Indiana — companies that have previously salvaged and sold seats from Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Tigers Stadium in Detroit and the former Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

The deal they proposed would give the county $75,000 up front and then evenly divide the profits from any seats sold — which would be a win for Jackson County.

In early April, the county spent $43,000 to move and store more than 30,000 seats removed from Arrowhead, but had no pre-existing plan to refurbish them or sell them to the public. The move rankled Jackson County 4th District legislator Dan Tarwater, who told the Star he had a different idea about how to handle them.

“I had a resolution to let the Chiefs go ahead and handle it. They could market it. They could sell it and run it through their recycling people,” Tarwater said at the time.

That was what the Chiefs — who are paying for the new seats upper deck seats being installed — had originally planned to do. But the county — which owns the Truman Sports Complex that includes Arrowhead — threw a penalty flag and stepped in.

Now the county stands to make a guaranteed profit — and could make much more if many seats are sold to Chiefs fans.

Under the proposal now under consideration, seats with Arrowhead logos on their end caps would be sold for $399 a pair. Double seats without logos would be offered for $299 and single seats would be available for $199. For an additional $20, fans would be able to request specific seat numbers.

By one estimate, the county would stand to make over $266,000 if just 10% of the seats are ultimately sold. Tarwater is happy with the deal on the table.

“I think it would be great,” Tarwater told the Star on Thursday. “If they can sell some, wonderful. I’ve always wanted for fans to get a chance at getting some.”

Under the proposal, the seats would be sold with brackets for wall mounting, and could also stand on the floor. They would be available for online purchase (with shipping included in the purchase price) but the vendors would also be required to provide a local venue where they could be purchased and picked up.

Jackson County residents would be offered first crack at purchasing the seats.

County legislators will take up the proposal on Monday. Under normal procedures, it could take up to a month for the proposal to be routed through a committee and ultimately approved. But Jackson County executive Frank White is asking for the process to be accelerated to avoid additional storage charges for the seats and allow the vendors the opportunity to market them during the regular season.

We’ll keep you updated with more details as they become available.