Earlier this week, it came out that a potential Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship game would be played in Atlanta. While that’s all well and good, it’s not terribly exciting. Here, I outline four locations that would certainly bring even more fun to a game between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen with a Super Bowl appearance on the line.
Kibbie Dome- Moscow, Idaho
Moscow, Idaho has been in the news lately for reasons that…aren’t great. Nevertheless, let’s try to put that aside. I’m pitching on behalf of the Idaho Vandals football team to have the AFC Championship game played in their obscure dome setting. If the NFL is smart and they want an entertaining game, they 100% will pick the Kibbie Dome. You’d have the two quarterbacks with the biggest arms in the league playing in a stadium where weather doesn’t play any factor. Allen and Mahomes would be slinging it and put up ridiculous numbers. Sorry in advance to any players in either the Bills or Chiefs secondary if this happens.
I do like the idea of an AFC Championship with true exclusivity. Reserve 75 tickets for the big wigs of both franchises and charge the same price that it is for a Vandals game. That’s roughly $65 dollars. The Kibbie Dome could house 16,000 fans which is a pretty good number if you ask me. It’ll be an absolute mad house with the Buffalo faithful ready to jump through tables and any Chiefs fans who just finished robbing a bank.
Barrow High School Football Field- Barrow, Alaska
Hear me out. No seriously, hear me out. Economically, this doesn’t make a ton of sense. But, if the NFL want to make this game as fun as possible, they’ll play the game at Barrow Field. It’d have a NASCAR feel to it as it’s one giant tailgate the whole time. They could charge per car instead of individual tickets. Then, fans could line the field and watch the game or even if you’re there early enough, you could drive up to one of the end zones.
There’s one tiny wrinkle. It’d be a difficult drive. While you could probably do it, I wasn’t able to locate directions for it. This is a draw back, but the NFL could also make history. It’d be the first of the four major sports leagues to play a game in the Arctic Circle. Now ,Roger Goodell has to weigh his options. Make a lot of money and have the game at a snobby field like Mercedes-Benz Stadium or make history.
Clean Harbors Stadium- Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Now, if the NFL and or the Bills and Chiefs need a correspondent for this venue, I’m your man. As a student and assistant coach on the Buccaneers staff, I’m more than equipped to help organize this beautiful partnership between the NFL and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. If you look at the stadium, it’s picturesque. There’s a train bridge in the back ground and about fifteen yards from one of the end zones the Cape Cod Canal.
Buffalo is 491 miles from Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Kansas City is 1,469 miles away. While Buffalo has the upper hand travel wise, the winds in Buzzards Bay don’t play favorites. The average wind at Mass Maritime is roughly 11.8 MPH, but the gusts are what you need to watch out for. I’ve seen punts and passes get caught in the wind and mother nature has her way with them. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful stadium and feels like a viable option if the NFL wants an exclusive AFC Championship as Clean Harbors Stadium only holds around 2,000 people.
Aloha Stadium: Halawa, Hawaii
The Pro Bowl did it. Why can’t the AFC Championship do it? This is about as even as it gets travel wise, (other than the Arctic Circle). Both fan bases and teams will have to fly and adapt at for the tailgate. Could we see a Bills fan wearing a Hawaiian shirt jump through a table? Or could we witness a Chiefs fan smoke some Hawaiian style barbeque? The opportunities are endless. Aloha Stadium can seat 50,000 fans so the NFL would be able to maximize their profit here the best. This is probably the most viable option to host the AFC Championship game.
