A closer look at NFL’s neutral-site discussion and requests Chiefs made of league

Pete Grathoff
·2 min read
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Through five NFL playoff games, the top seed has won four times, and the AFC’s Wild Card teams have all been eliminated.

Should the top seeds win in the AFC Divisional Round playoff games, the Chiefs would be headed to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to face the Buffalo Bills.

That’s a result of Buffalo’s Week 17 game against Cincinnati being canceled. The idea for a neutral site AFC Championship Game came from commissioner Roger Goodell, and NFL owners approved it on Jan. 6.

Details from that owners meeting have trickled out since them, and it shows how the Chiefs voted and what they wanted in a neutral site game.

Here is a closer look.

The vote

NBC Sports’ Peter King reported the vote to approve a neutral-site game wasn’t unanimous. Three-fourths (24) of NFL owners had to approve the plan, and King said it received 25 yes votes.

Three no votes were cast by the Bengals, Dolphins and Bears, King reported, while the Chiefs, Bills, Raiders and Chargers abstained.

ESPN’s Seth Wickersham reported that Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn “urged teams to vote against the scenarios. Her reasoning stemmed from the timing of a rule change in this scenario away from the standard of winning percentages.”

Chiefs requests

The only possible neutral-site AFC Championship Game would be between the Bills and Chiefs.

When owners approved the idea, the league began the search for a stadium that could work. According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, the Chiefs made requests of the league.

The NFL apparently didn’t listen.

“A league source said the Chiefs indicated they wanted an outdoor site on natural grass,” Jones wrote. “They ended up getting a covered stadium on turf.”

Why Atlanta was chosen

Mercedes-Benz Stadium was picked for a few reasons.

Jones reported the 71,000-seat stadium has “far more premium seats than either Arrowhead or Highmark (stadiums), which means a greater ticket revenue for the game even if it winds up getting split between the two teams.”

The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin noted weather shouldn’t be an issue for the game (it’s a domed stadium) or fans traveling to Atlanta. WeatherSpark.com said Atlanta’s “daily high temperatures are around 53°F, rarely falling below 39°F or exceeding 66°F.”

That means snow and ice likely won’t stop fans from getting to the game.

It also helped that the Falcons didn’t make the playoffs, so there was no concern about Atlanta needing the stadium.