By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Chiefs Training Camp at Missouri Western is beginning to wind down, but the campus is closing in on a record number of fans coming to camp in St. Joseph.
Missouri Western President Elizabeth Kennedy says while official totals havenât been released by the Chiefs, indications are this training camp will draw the largest number of fans.
"To date there were over 100,000 tickets that were distributed and nearly 50,000 tickets that were scanned at the entrance to the camp, so imagine that" Kennedy tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "And just under 30,000 parking passes that have been distributed."
More than 62,000 fans came to Chiefs training camp in 2019, which is the current attendance record.
Kennedy says while this is on track to be the biggest crowd ever, itâs important to remember the camp wasnât held in St. Joseph in 2020 after a Super Bowl year, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"And then even the following camp they were still doing the COVID protocols, they couldn't do autographs, they had to be distanced from the fans, and it wasn't quite the same experience," Kennedy explains. "This year they are right off of their big Super Bowl win and you're seeing so many folks coming particularly for the autograph days, but even just the regular days, to experience, to see them up close, it is truly amazing."
Kennedy says, once again, the camp has proven to be great exposure for St. Joseph.
"For our community, for St. Joseph, and for Missouri Western State University we've just had so many people in attendance and having such a great time at the days of camp, even though it hasn't been the sunny days that we might have wanted the overcast clouds have kept it cooler," Kennedy says.
The final training camp practice will be held on August 17th