Here’s Most Obvious Reason Chiefs Have To Win Super Bowl in '26

And it has nothing to do with Travis Kelce's new contract, or who the team drafts next month.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes breaks off a run after escaping from San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and defensive end Dee Ford during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, on Feb. 2, 2020. | Allen Eyestone/Palm Beach Post / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Chiefs better win the Super Bowl this year because they won’t win it next season.

Worse, if owners vote a certain measure as expected next week, Kansas City won’t win it in 2028, either. However, the Chiefs are certainly grateful that Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park, which will host the outdoor spectacle known as the annual NFL draft, sit firmly in the American Football Conference.

Let’s explain.

A view of packed Lower Broadway as seen from Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk during the NFL Draft watch party in Nashville on April 25, 2019. | Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Correlation between drafts in AFC cities, Chiefs Super Bowls

The Chiefs have followed a remarkable pattern of winning Super Bowls immediately after an AFC city hosts the draft. The Chiefs won in 2019 when the draft was in Nashville, in 2022 when it was in Las Vegas and in 2023 when Kansas City hosted the event at Union Station.

After Cleveland hosted the weekend in 2021, the Chiefs didn’t make the Super Bowl but they did host the AFC championship game.

Apr 27, 2023; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce greets fans during the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft at Union Station. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

And in 2024, when the league finally allowed an NFC team to host the draft? Well, the Chiefs got blown out in the Super Bowl by Philadelphia. Almost 10 months earlier, Detroit hosted the draft and broke Kansas City’s attendance record.

Back-to-back drafts in NFC cities are devastating. After Green Bay hosted it in 2025, Kansas City missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The Chiefs have quietly lost 12 of their last 18 games beginning with Super Bowl 59 – incidentally held in another NFC city, New Orleans.

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) scores a touchdown against Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson (35) in the third quarter in Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

AFC string nearing its end

Next month, Pittsburgh hosts the massive three-day event and Kansas City simply has to capitalize on its rapidly closing Super Bowl window. Excluding the virtual draft held during Covid in 2020, the Steelers are the fifth AFC team over the last seven in-person drafts to host the festivities. As Patrick Mahomes signals with an alarm-clock emoji on his social media, 2026 is "showtime" more than any time before.

After next month's draft, Pittsburgh will pass the baton to Washington D.C. to host the event next year. And later this month at the annual league meeting, Minneapolis will bid to host the 2028 draft. That could be two straight drafts, 2027-28, in which the NFC will host the event. Obviously, Kansas City better win the Super Bowl this year.

Mar 22, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; View of Acrisure Stadium site of the 2025 NFL Draft before the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Adam Schefter used his podcast last week to tell the story of how the draft moved out of New York, its home from 1965-2014. Apparently, the league grew frustrated with owners of Radio City Music Hall and their inability to commit to a vacancy during the all-important month of April.

The Rockettes had penciled in a show for the spring of 2015, but the league couldn’t get a firm answer from the venue. There’s a lot of runway required to stage the NFL’s premier offseason event, something that easily outdraws NBA and NHL playoff games in television ratings.

The famous Radio City Rocketts are doing a holiday routine for quests during the annual Symphony Ball at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel on Dec. 15, 2002. | Randy Piland / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So, Roger Goodell called George McCaskey and the Chicago Bears, who were glad to host the event -- not only in 2015 but also the following year. Philadelphia got the draft in 2017 and Dallas hosted in 2018. Five years after the Chiefs drafted Dee Ford at Radio City, they drafted Mecole Hardman in the Music City.

And once the NFL opted for Music City in 2019, moving the draft to an AFC locale in Nashville, of course that’s when the Chiefs began their Super Bowl dynasty.