The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They currently belong to the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

Originally called the Dallas Texans, the club was founded in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. The team moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs in 1963 after then-Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle guaranteed to the team that they would have increased ticket sales. The Chiefs then joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

The Chiefs hold the distinction of being the second AFL team (after the New York Jets) to defeat an NFL club in an AFL-NFL World Championship Game when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

Popular gameday traditions: Fans screaming all game (Arrowhead Stadium has been rated as the loudest stadium in the NFL) - at the end of the National Anthem fans yell and "Chiefs" where "brave" would typically be - occasional use of "War Chant" popularized by the Florida State Seminoles - popular mascot "KC Wolf" - Raider Hater Week (parts of town painted red to celebrate the oldest AFC rivalry) - After every Chiefs touchdown (even if they are getting badly beaten), the crowd chants "We're gonna beat the hell outta you, you...you...you, you, you," over Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, part 2"

The team is owned by Lamar Hunt, who founded the team along with their original league, the American Football League, in 1960. The Dallas Texans, as they were known then, defeated the Houston Oilers in a dramatic 1962 AFL championship which went into double overtime. The Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City in 1963. Most impressive about this move was the support the team received from the community even before the team announced the move. Hunt made the move dependent upon the ability of Kansas City Mayor H. Roe Bartle and the Kansas City community to guarantee him 35,000 in season ticket sales. Hunt had arrived at this number because that was the Texans' average attendance at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Bartle called to his office 20 business leaders and called upon them to form an association later known as "The Gold Coats", whose sole objective was to sell and take down payments on the 35,000 season tickets required. Not an easy task when one considers the move was still secret and the Gold Coats had to sell season tickets to people without knowing the team name, where it was coming from, who the owner was, what league it would play in, who the players or coaches were, when the team would play its first game in Kansas City, what it's team colors would be or where it would play. Hunt gave Bartle a 4 month deadline. Bartle and the Gold Coats made good in only 8 weeks. Later, Hunt admitted he was really only hoping for 20,000, for which he still would have moved the franchise.

The name, "Chiefs" was selected by a fan contest, and is derived from Mayor Bartle, who 35 years prior, founded the Native American-based honor society known as The Tribe of Mic-O-Say within the Boy Scouts of America organization, which earned him the nickname, "The Chief." It is said that Hunt actually considered keeping the team name as it was, and playing as the "Kansas City Texans."[1]

The Texans/Chiefs franchise was the flagship team of the American Football League, with the most playoff appearances as an AFL team, six (tied with Oakland), the most American Football League Championships (3), and the most Super Bowl appearances, playing in the first Super Bowl, and in the last to be played between League champions. The Texans won the classic 1962 double-overtime AFL championship game against the Houston Oilers, 20 - 17, at the time the longest, and still one of the best professional football championship games ever played. The Chiefs dropped the first Super Bowl to the Packers, then pulverized the Vikings 23 - 7 in the final "true" AFL-NFL World Championsip game after the AFL's last season in 1969. They had just one coach throughout their AFL history, Hall-of-Famer Hank Stram.

The Kansas City Chiefs' (under Dallas Texans name) first stadium was at 22nd and Brooklyn, called "Municipal Stadium". Municipal Stadium opened in 1923 and had 49,002 seats. In 1972, the Chiefs moved into the new Arrowhead Stadium. Municipal Stadium, also formerly the home of the Kansas City Royals, the minor-league Kansas City Blues and, most successfully, the Negro Leagues' Kansas City Monarchs, was demolished in 1976 and is now a community garden. The Chiefs' first game at Arrowhead Stadium was against the St. Louis Cardinals (Chiefs 24, St. Louis Cardinals 14).