Chiefs President Mark Donovan reflects on the franchise's growth over the years
"We're really proud of this. And again, I go back to '09-'10 for those of you who were here; this organization has come a long way. And a lot of it is the success of this football team and the Hall of Fame coach, Hall of Fame tight end, Hall of Fame quarterback, Hall of Fame defensive tackle, five of the last six Super Bowls." said Donovan, "But a lot of it's the work that goes on behind the scenes to have the right plans, the right programs, and the right processes in place. And so, the NFL tracks fan base, and it's a combination of your primary fan base and your secondary fan base, and they rank every single NFL team. And you can imagine in 2009 and '10, we were looking up a long way to get into the top 10."
Kansas City has won nine consecutive division titles, the second-longest streak of division championships for any team in league history. Only the New England Patriots, who won 11 successive AFC East titles from 2009 to 2019, had a longer streak.
"As great as our fans are, you have the challenge of a smaller market, the challenge of not being really successful on the field, and we've been able to do things off the field, innovative-wise, marketing-wise," said Donovan. "The movies and things like that have created a much bigger fan base. But the cool thing about it for us and our strategy is that one of the reasons we're number one is we're a worldwide fan base now. So, the combination that is for the first time ever, we surpassed some of the biggest teams out there, and we're the largest fan base in the NFL."
The Chiefs' home dominance has contributed significantly to their success. In 2024, they finished with a perfect 10-0 record at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the first undefeated year in franchise history that included the playoffs.
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