Steelers owner Art Rooney II went on record last month to say that he hated the idea of playing neutral-site conference championship games.
There’s now another owner on record saying he doesn’t like it either.
During an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said he wants to keep things the way they are. That’s despite the fact that his father, Lamar Hunt, had proposed neutral-site conference championship games more than once before his death in 2006.
“In the context of this offseason, there was discussion about going forward, should the championship games be played at neutral sites,” Hunt said. “It was actually something that my dad mentioned a couple of times to the league — he thought that might be good. But having experienced it now for five years in a row, getting to host that game is such a special reward for the regular season and a way to reward your fans who have been so loyal throughout the year.
“So, I’m definitely a fan of keeping it at home with the highest seed.”
Had the Bills defeated the Bengals in the divisional round, the AFC Championship Game between Buffalo and Kansas City would have been in Atlanta. Ownership voted to make that one-time change in the aftermath of the Week 17 contest between the Bills and Bengals being canceled.
The Chiefs had never hosted a conference championship game until Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018. The last time they’d even reached the conference title matchup was in 1993 when Joe Montana was the team’s starting quarterback.
Hunt called the most recent championship game in Kansas City “a special night.”
"[N]ot only on the field, but for our fans as well,” Hunt said. “The energy that they brought throughout the game, despite it being 17, 18 degrees — it was not a warm night, but that doesn’t bother our fans. So, great night. Always love receiving the Lamar Hunt trophy. That’s really special for our family.”
Given that the Chiefs have hosted the last five AFC title games, it makes complete sense that Hunt wouldn’t want to give up that opportunity. If any proposal comes forward this offseason, we’ll see if it has support from at least 24 owners. With two owners already not on board for that change, there would only need to be seven more to shut it down.
