Chiefs Beat Ravens, Head to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KPR) - The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10, to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. The Chiefs scored on their opening drive with a touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce and never trailed in the game. With that duo advancing to each of the four Super Bowls in this stretch, Chiefs coach Andy Reid says he appreciates their leadership of this squad. "You’ve got to bring it every week. To be in this position, that tells you a little bit of something about the mental makeup of this football team," he said. The Chiefs won in their sixth straight AFC championship - and on the road for the first time. The Chiefs defense forced three turnovers against the Ravens, which proved to be crucial. The Kansas City Chiefs will meet the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl 58 on February 11th in Las Vegas. (Read more on the Chiefs victory and Super Bowl prospects further below.)
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Kansas Bill Would Prohibit DEI Questions for University Job Applicants
TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) - Kansas lawmakers are hoping to keep public universities from requiring job candidates to affirm support for diversity, equity and inclusion. A House committee will hear testimony this week on a bill to prohibit DEI statements on university job applications. Conservative lawmakers have attacked such initiatives as “woke” or left-wing ideology. Jon Rolph is chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. He says state universities don’t require DEI pledges from current or prospective faculty members. “We have no practices that hold one race down to elevate another race. We really look for the best candidates," he said.
Legislators approved a measure last year that would bar universities from requiring DEI statements. Some conservatives call them “loyalty oaths” and say the practice amounts to left-wing ideology. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the provision, but lawmakers are trying again this session. Kansas Board of Regents chairman Jon Rolph faced questions about diversity during a recent Senate committee hearing. He said Kansas colleges don’t require DEI pledges. “I don’t think our mission is to create diversity. Our campuses are becoming more diverse, and we’re really trying to make sure we’re responsive to that.” A House committee will hear testimony Wednesday on a bill to prohibit DEI statements from students or faculty members.
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CDC: Research Says COVID Vaccines Can Reduce Blood Clots
WICHITA, Kan. (KNS/KMUW) - Research published by the CDC suggests COVID vaccines can reduce the risk of blood clots in certain groups. Kansas doctors say it’s another reason residents should stay up-to-date on their vaccines. The data found that, contrary to claims by vaccine skeptics, bivalent COVID vaccines reduced the risk of developing blood clots for older adults and people with renal disease. Dr. Dana Hawkinson is medical director of infection prevention at the University of Kansas Health System. “What it showed is that those people that received a bivalent booster compared with those who just received the original vaccines did have a 50% decreased risk of blood clots.” He said it’s further evidence Kansans should continue to get vaccinated and boosted against the virus. COVID hospitalizations are trending down in Kansas after a spike around the winter holidays, but the virus remains in circulation.
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Missing Kansas Man Found Dead in Franklin County
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) - A missing Kansas man has been found dead. On Saturday afternoon, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office posted to Facebook that authorities were looking for 84-year-old Donald Willford. KSNW TV reports that the man was last seen Saturday morning when he was leaving his home in Pomona. Willford was later found dead. An autopsy will determine his cause of death.
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KU Study Shows Program Treating PTSD, Depression, Holds Promise
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KNS) – A pilot study by the University of Kansas finds that Warriors’ Ascent, a program for veterans and first responders, shows promise in treating issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The Kansas News Service reports that when longtime Kansas resident Matt Hastings retired from the U.S. army in 2016, he says he felt like he lost his purpose. In 2022 when Hastings says he was at his lowest point, he heard about Warriors’ Ascent. The 5-day retreat combines multiple treatment methods for issues that many veterans struggle with, like PTSD, depression and substance abuse. Hastings says bringing people with similar experiences together is powerful. “We all thought we were the only ones thinkin’ the way we were thinking. And found out that every single one of us was thinkin’ exactly the same," he added. The KU study found about 3% of participants drop out of the program, compared with the 36% veteran dropout rate in other PTSD treatments.
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Giant Dairy Plant Closes in Southwest Kansas
HUGOTON, Kan. (KNS) - A giant dairy plant in southwest Kansas has closed, leaving 150 people without a job. And the effects could spread to surrounding areas and industries. One of the biggest employers in Stevens County, Kansas Dairy Ingredients, opened 10 years ago, and announced a $45 million expansion two years ago. But now the plant has closed, despite the dairy industry growing and expanding further into Kansas. Jeremy Hill, economic and business researcher at Wichita State University, says the risk of statewide economic impact is low, but the effects will be felt in the region. “These households have less money to spend retail, health care, all those services, and they're going to cut back spending and is going to have this trickle effect over there," he said. According to Hill, the immediate impact will be felt in farming, trucking, and ranching in the region. Kansas Dairy Ingredients has not said why it closed.
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Dying Thief Who Stole 'Wizard of Oz' Ruby Slippers from Minnesota Museum Avoids Prison
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A dying thief who confessed to stealing a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” because he wanted to pull off “one last score” was given no prison time at his sentencing hearing Monday.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, stole the slippers adorned with sequins and glass beads in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He gave into temptation after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value, his attorney revealed in a memo to the federal court ahead of his sentencing in Duluth.
Martin showed little emotion as the judge handed down the sentence and was physically unable to fully rise from his chair as the judge adjourned the hearing. He declined to address the court. But defense attorney Dane DeKrey said the resolution of the case should bring a measure of closure to the government, the museum, the slippers' owner and to Martin himself.
The government was able to hold one person accountable, DeKrey said, while the museum and the collector who owns the slippers got to find out what happened. And Martin was able to close this chapter in the final months of his life instead of taking his secret to his grave.
“They will never be made whole in this case,” the attorney said of the victims. “But they're more whole than they had been in the last 18 years.”
The FBI recovered the shoes in 2018 when someone else tried to claim a reward. Martin wasn’t charged with stealing them until last year. Prosecutor Matthew Greenley said in court Monday that investigators used phone records to zero in on Martin, and used his wife's immigration status as leverage to search Martin's home and get him to confess.
He pleaded guilty in October to theft of a major artwork, admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers. But his motivation remained mostly a mystery until DeKrey revealed it in a court filing this month.
Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, said at the October hearing that he hoped to remove what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a person who deals in stolen goods, known as a fence, informed him the rubies weren't real, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers.
DeKrey wrote in his memo that Martin's unidentified former associate persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one last score,” even though Martin had seemed to have "finally put his demons to rest” after finishing his last prison term nearly 10 years earlier.
“At first, Terry declined the invitation to participate in the heist. But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote. “After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the theft.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz accepted the recommendation of both sides that he sentence Martin to time served because he is housebound in hospice care and is expected to die within the next few months. He requires constant oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and had to be brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The loud hum of his oxygen machine echoed through the courtroom.
Schiltz told Martin he probably would have sentenced him to 10 years in prison if it was still 2005. The judge also accepted the recommendation from both sides that Martin should pay $23,500 in restitution to the museum and ordered him to pay $300 a month.
“I certainly do not want to minimize the seriousness of Mr. Martin's crime,” the judge said. “Mr. Martin intended to steal and destroy an irreplaceable part of American culture.”
According to DeKrey's memo, Martin had no idea about the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had never seen “The Wizard of Oz.” Instead, DeKrey said, the “old Terry” with a lifelong history involving burglary and receiving stolen property beat out the “new Terry” who had become “a contributing member of society” after his 1996 release from prison.
After the fence told Martin the rubies were fake, DeKrey wrote, he gave the slippers to his old associate and told him he never wanted to see them again. The attorney said Martin never heard from the man again. Martin has refused to identify anyone else who was involved in the theft, and nobody else has ever been charged in the case.
The FBI never disclosed exactly how it tracked down the slippers. The bureau said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he could help recover them but demanded more than the $200,000 reward being offered. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis the next year.
Federal prosecutors have put the slippers' market value at about $3.5 million.
In the classic 1939 musical, Garland’s character, Dorothy, had to click the heels of her ruby slippers three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home,” to return to Kansas from Oz. She wore several pairs during filming, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain.
Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned one pair to the museum before Martin stole them. The other three are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector.
According to John Kelsh, founding director of the Judy Garland Museum, the slippers were returned to Shaw and are being held for safekeeping by an auction house that plans to sell them after a promotional tour. He told reporters he doubts they will ever come back to Grand Rapids.
Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles north of Minneapolis, until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969.
The Judy Garland Museum, located in the house where she lived, says it has the world’s largest collection of Garland and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia. The museum's executive director, Janie Heitz, said in court that the theft cost it “a significant amount of credibility” and made it harder to borrow other objects connected with Garland and the movie, as well as hurting attendance.
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KC Royals Make Negro Leagues Museum Free in February
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KC Star) - For the third straight year, admission to the National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City will be free for the month of February. The Kansas City Royals are again picking up the tab for everyone's admission to the museum during Black History Month. The Kansas City Star reports that last year, the Royals paid $120,000 for more than 14,000 people to visit the museum.
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Wichita Police Seek Jackie Robinson Statue Stolen from Park
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A prized statue of Jackie Robinson was stolen from a public park in Kansas, spurring a police search Friday and outrage across the city of Wichita. The statue honors the first player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. Surveillance video was released of two people hauling the sculpture away in the dark. Wichita police said in a Facebook post that it went missing Thursday morning The statue was cut at the ankles to be removed. All that remained of the statue Friday were Robinson's feet. Even more troubling was that the statue's theft happened shortly before Black History Month begins in February.
Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He's considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson called the theft “horrendous” and “disgusting,” and said that residents are feeling hurt and angry, and demanding justice.
The Wichita Metro Crime Commission offered a reward Friday of up to $2,500 for tips leading to arrests and another $5,000 for tips that lead to the statue's recovery.
Little League nonprofit League 42, named after Robinson's number with the Dodgers, paid about $50,000 for the model of him, Executive Director Bob Lutz said. The sculpture was installed in 2021 in McAdams Park, where the roughly 600 children play in the youth baseball league.
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KPR Community Spotlight Shines on Foster Village Lawrence
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Foster Village Lawrence is in the KPR Community Spotlight this month. Jenny Lichte says her non-profit organization helps bridge the gap between foster families and those who want to help them by meeting practical needs. "The most common thing we do is provide welcome packs for families when children first come into placement in the homes. And each welcome pack - for sure - will have a water bottle, a stuffed animal, a blanket, a book and then it depends on the children's ages... usually a hygiene kit," she said. Foster Village Lawrence is a non-profit aimed at helping foster families and foster children in Douglas and surrounding counties. (Read more.)
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K-State Women Rise to No. 2 in AP Poll as South Carolina Keeps Grip on No. 1
UNDATED (AP) – South Carolina remains the clear No. 1 team in the country and No. 2 Kansas State matched its best ranking ever after a chaotic week that saw nearly half of the AP Top 25 lose at least one game. Five of last week's top 10 teams lost. Overall, a dozen ranked teams had at least one defeat. Kansas State has its highest ranking since 2002. Iowa is back up to third as Caitlin Clark nears the all-time scoring record in women's basketball. Stanford and North Carolina State round out the top five.
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The Super Bowl is Set: Mahomes and the Chiefs Will Face Purdy and the 49ers
UNDATED (AP) - Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Las Vegas with a chance for a rare repeat while facing the San Francisco 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch from four years ago. The Chiefs beat Lamar Jackson and the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC championship game Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. Brock Purdy later rallied the No. 1-seeded 49ers to a 34-31 victory over Detroit in the NFC title game. The Chiefs will try to become the first back-to-back champions since New England during the 2003-04 seasons. The 49ers seek a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title in their eighth appearance.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Las Vegas with a chance for a rare repeat while facing the San Francisco 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch from four years ago. The Chiefs beat Lamar Jackson and the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC championship game Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. A few hours later, Brock Purdy rallied the No. 1-seeded 49ers to a 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game. The Chiefs (14-6) are aiming to become the first back-to-back champions since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots did it following the 2003-04 seasons.
Purdy — who was still two years away from being the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft the last time the teams played in the Super Bowl — will try to lead the 49ers (14-5) to a record-tying sixth title in their eighth appearance.
The teams meet at Allegiant Stadium on Febryary 11. The 49ers opened as 2 1/2-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Mahomes and the Chiefs overcame a 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit and beat the 49ers 31-20 to give coach Andy Reid his first Super Bowl victory on Feb. 2, 2020. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spoiled Kansas City’s repeat bid the following year.
The Chiefs will become just the third team to play in four Super Bowls over a five-year span. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s and the Patriots in the 2000s and 2010s won three Super Bowls in a five-year span.
Mahomes rallied the Chiefs for a 38-35 comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl last year. They beat Miami 26-7 in the wild-card round and defeated the Bills 27-24 in Buffalo last week in Mahomes’ first career playoff game on the road besides Super Bowls.
The 49ers were dominated by the Eagles in the NFC title game last year in a game that saw Purdy suffer a significant elbow injury that required surgery. He returned for the season opener and helped them earn a first-round bye. Purdy led a 24-21 comeback win over Green Bay last week and brought the Niners back from a 17-point deficit against the Lions.
Only New England and Pittsburgh have more Super Bowl wins than San Francisco, which last won it following the 1994 season.
Reid will lead a team in the Super Bowl for the fifth time, moving into a tie with Tom Landry for third most behind Bill Belichick’s nine and Don Shula’s six. Reid coached the Eagles when the Patriots beat them to repeat 19 years ago.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan returns to the Super Bowl after losing to Reid in his first crack at it. Shanahan was Atlanta’s offensive coordinator when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead against Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl 51.
Mahomes, a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP, will start in his fourth Super Bowl, tied with Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning, Roger Staubach and Jim Kelly for third-most behind Brady’s 10 and John Elway’s five.
The biggest question is whether Taylor Swift will make it to Las Vegas to watch her boyfriend in the Super Bowl. Swift, who celebrated with Kelce on the field after the victory over the Ravens, is scheduled to perform in Japan just 24 hours before kickoff.
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Can't get enough of the Kansas City Chiefs? We have more...
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Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce Headed Back to Super Bowl After Chiefs Shut Down Ravens 17-10
BALTIMORE (AP) — The first quarter was vintage Patrick Mahomes, picking apart the Baltimore defense with quick passes, with Travis Kelce on the other end of several of them. Then the Kansas City defense — now elite after some shaky seasons in the past — took over. Finally, when Mahomes needed one more completion to send the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl, he went deep to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, whose struggles this season were emblematic of the team's maligned receiving group. Complete for 32 yards. Ballgame. "The Chiefs are still the Chiefs," Kelce said emphatically.
After all the moments this season when they looked disjointed and vulnerable, the Chiefs are headed back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. Mahomes and Kelce were at their magnificent best in the first half, and Kansas City's defense delivered another masterpiece against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, leading the Chiefs to a 17-10 victory in the AFC championship game Sunday.
Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, and now the big question at next month's Super Bowl in Las Vegas is whether his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, will be able to make it there in the middle of her tour. The pop star was on hand again Sunday, and it was a milestone day for the 34-year-old Kelce, who surpassed Jerry Rice's career record for postseason receptions.
Kansas City (14-6) will face San Francisco on February 11, and a victory would make the Chiefs the first team to win it all in back-to-back seasons since the New England Patriots 19 years ago.
Swift's presence has turned the Chiefs into even more of a glamour team than they already were, but it's been more of a blue-collar performance on the field this season. Aside from Kelce, Mahomes' playmakers haven't been as threatening as in years past. Only once this season has Kansas City scored more than 31 points, and a home loss on Christmas to the Las Vegas Raiders — on the same day Baltimore made a statement with a win at San Francisco — seemed to indicate that the Chiefs' days atop the AFC were numbered.
Not so fast.
Playing on the road in the playoffs for the first time with Mahomes, the Chiefs beat Buffalo and Baltimore in back-to-back weeks to win the conference. "I've never doubted, no," coach Andy Reid said. "That's not how we roll."
The Chiefs led 17-7 at halftime, and Justin Tucker's 43-yard field goal with 2:34 to play was the only scoring of the second half. Baltimore kicked deep after that, and on third-and-9, Mahomes connected with Valdes-Scantling, who held on and knew exactly what that catch meant. "We're going to the Super Bowl," he said. "That was it. I knew we needed one first down to get us to the goal, and they trusted me to go get one."
Mahomes went 30 of 39 for 241 yards and a touchdown.
Jackson could win his second MVP after leading Baltimore to the league's best record and point differential during the regular season, but the Ravens allowed touchdowns on the first two Kansas City possessions and appeared a bit panicky at times after that. Baltimore (14-5) made undisciplined mistakes all game, while Kansas City looked the part of the team making its sixth straight appearance in the conference title game.
With the Ravens down by 10 in the third quarter, rookie Zay Flowers caught a 54-yard pass to the Kansas City 10 — then was flagged for taunting after the play. Moments later, he fumbled near the goal line and the Ravens ended up with no points. That was one of several frustrating moments for Baltimore fans, whose city was hosting an AFC championship game for the first time since January 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders.
Jackson went 20 of 37 for 272 yards and a touchdown, but Baltimore never really exploited its perceived advantage on the ground. Jackson raced under one of his own tipped passes in the first half for a 13-yard reception, but he also turned the ball over twice, including a forced pass into heavy coverage that was picked off in the end zone with 6:45 left in the game.
Once it was clear defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had the upper hand against the Baltimore offense, Mahomes was happy to manage the game and avoid doing anything too risky. "Spags, it seems like when the games get bigger, when the challenges get higher, he performs even better," Mahomes said.
Jackson fell to 2-4 as a starter in the postseason despite having been the top seed in the AFC twice. He made a few sensational individual plays, but the Ravens had trouble moving the ball otherwise. "That guy was the main guy I was playing for, honestly," Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen said. "So much stuff he gets that he doesn't deserve.
This was his opportunity to be able to write some of that stuff off and move on to the next thing. That's why it hurts, because you want to see people like that, teammates that you love and care about, get what they're supposed to get." Mahomes, meanwhile, completed his first 11 pass attempts, and although the Ravens largely shut Kansas City down after that, the damage was done on a rainy day in Baltimore.
There was some chippy behavior before the game, which included Ravens defensive back Arthur Maulet and a group of Kansas City players having to be separated. Then the Chiefs forced a three-and-out on the game's first drive and went 86 yards for the opening touchdown. Kelce caught a 13-yard pass from Mahomes over the middle on fourth-and-2. Then the star tight end beat All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton for a 19-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.
Jackson answered in his own spectacular way. He broke free for a 21-yard run when Baltimore went for it on fourth-and-1 from its 34. Then the star quarterback ducked out of a near-sack by Leo Chenal, retreated a bit farther back and threw a 30-yard scoring strike to Flowers, who celebrated with teammates by doing the "swag surf" dance that Swift and Chiefs fans did at a recent game.
Kansas City was unbothered. Mahomes drove his team 75 yards in 9:02 — with the help of an acrobatic diving catch by Kelce on one third-down toss — and Isiah Pacheco capped the 16-play march with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The Chiefs actually missed chances to extend their lead. A sack by Charles Omenihu forced a fumble by Jackson that gave Kansas City the ball at the Baltimore 33. But Kelce was marked just short on a third-down catch, and Pacheco was stopped on the ensuing fourth down at the 13.
After a couple of personal fouls on Baltimore helped Kansas City cross midfield late in the half, the Chiefs were flagged for back-to-back holding calls, the second of which wiped out a 33-yard screen pass to Rashee Rice that would have been a touchdown. A 9-yard pass to Kelce put Kansas City in position for Harrison Butker's 52-yard field goal that made it 17-7.
FAMILY AFFAIR
The Harbaugh brothers came up short in their attempt to sweep the college and pro championships after Jim Harbaugh coached Michigan to a national title. Jim, who then left the Wolverines to become coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, was at the game Sunday. John Harbaugh said he was still proud of Baltimore's season. "I feel like it was a team that had a lot of challenges. I don't think it was a team that was too highly touted coming into the season by the pundits and the prognosticators and all that, and I think they proved a lot of people wrong, all year," he said. "The quarterback made a statement all year."
INJURIES
Omenihu left with a knee injury, and star defensive tackle Chris Jones was shaken up in the fourth quarter for the Chiefs.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: The Chiefs have not played the 49ers this season. This will be a rematch of the Super Bowl four years ago, which Kansas City won 31-20.
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Chiefs Return Home, Begin Super Bowl Preparations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCUR) – The Kansas City Chiefs are back home after their AFC Championship win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. KCUR reports that the team will now begin to prepare for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58. It will be a rematch of number 54, when the Chiefs won their first NFL title in 50 years. But this year, the Chiefs have a much-improved defense. Coach Andy Reid says it’s one of the best units he’s coached in his career. "The guys have been doing a great job. They’re doing a great job with their eyes right now. That’ll be real important in a couple weeks here when we play the 49ers," he added. The defense will face Forty-niners quarterback Brock Purdy, who can run the ball when he’s out of passing options. The Chiefs resume practice on Thursday before leaving this weekend for Las Vegas. The Super Bowl is February 11th.
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Chiefs' Reid: Toney's Injury 'Not Made up by Any Means' After WR Accuses Team of Lying
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs coach Andy Reid denied providing inaccurate injury information on Kadarius Toney on Monday after the wide receiver went on an expletive-laden social media rant in which he appeared to accuse the team of lying about his health. Toney was ruled out of Sunday’s AFC championship game in Baltimore because of a hip issue and for personal reasons following the birth of his daughter. But in a post on Instagram Live, the 25-year-old Toney insisted that “I’m not hurt.” Teams and coaches can be fined by the NFL for issuing inaccurate or misleading injury reports. The Chiefs return to practice Thursday to begin preparing for the Super Bowl against San Francisco on February 11 in Las Vegas.
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Las Vegas Super Bowl Tickets Fetching Record Prices on the Secondary Market
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tickets on at least one secondary-market site were the most expensive in Super Bowl history on Monday, underscoring the anticipation of the game's Las Vegas debut between the defending champion and what likely is the most popular team in the West.
Oh, and the great possibility Taylor Swift will be on hand when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.
The average purchase price on TickPick was $9,815 on Monday morning. That's nearly double the final average price of $5,795 for last year's game between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona, although current prices could decline.
It's also more than the previous high of $7,046 for the 2021 game in Tampa, Florida, between the Buccaneers and the Chiefs. The stadium was at 33% capacity because of COVID-19 restrictions, increasing the demand for each ticket.
TickPick's highest non-COVID Super Bowl was in 2020 at Miami Gardens, Florida, when the Chiefs and Niners met for the first time in the championship game. That average price was $6,370.
The cheapest ticket on TickPick for this year's game was $8,188 on Monday, more than the $5,997 low price at this point last year.
“Location has always impacted demand for a Super Bowl, but Vegas takes things to a whole other level,” TickPick co-CEO Brett Goldberg said in a statement to The Associated Press. "It’s already the entertainment capital of the world, and could very well become the sports capital of the world after the Super Bowl.
“With both teams having made at least one Super Bowl appearance in the past five years, we would typically expect there to be slight fatigue from fans, in turn causing prices to dip. Instead, we’re seeing demand hit record highs and a big driver being that fans want to experience their team winning a Super Bowl in Vegas.”
StubHub was experiencing similar demand with an average price of tickets sold at $9,300 on Monday, though that trails the Super Bowl two years ago. The average at the same time was $9,797 for the game in Inglewood, California, when the hometown Los Angeles Rams were preparing to play the Cincinnati Bengals.
The lowest-priced ticket on StubHub for this year's game was $6,500.
Sales on that website are 90% greater than last year at this time and 147% greater than the 2020 meeting between Kansas City and San Francisco.
The convenient location for 49ers fans is helping drive demand, with California residents accounting for 26% of tickets sold on StubHub. That's more than the combined tickets sold to those who live in Nevada (8%) and Kansas or Missouri (7%).
“As predicted, the first Super Bowl in Vegas is seeing strong numbers — sales are nearly double this time last year and early demand has far surpassed the last time Kansas City and San Francisco met in Miami,” StubHub spokesman Adam Budelli said in a statement.
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