No matter how Super Bowl LVIII shakes out, these past few months have been a helluva ride for Highland Park billionaire Clark Hunt and his family, owners of the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas.
A late-season meltdown had prospects for the Chiefs’ return to the Big Game for the fourth time in five years looking highly questionable. They made it.
The Hunts also have a keen interest in the other kind of football — professional soccer — the sport their late legendary father, Lamar Hunt, was so instrumental in bringing to this country.
FIFA announced last week that while Dallas missed out on the 2026 World Cup championship match, it (well, Arlington) landed nine games, including a semifinal, as an enormous consolation prize — more games than any other U.S. metro.
“The last couple of weeks have definitely been busy,” Hunt said, “But it’s all been good.”
And to add salsa to the sauce, there’s also been the supernova romance of galactical stars Taylor Swift and the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce that has dominated social media since word of their dating started to spread five months ago.
Arrowhead Stadium, the Hunts’ “second home” in Kansas City, will host six World Cup matches, including a quarterfinal.
“One of the thoughts I’ve had this week is that Lamar Hunt’s two favorite cities are getting 15 World Cup games, almost 15% of the total games,” said Hunt, chairman and CEO of Hunt Sports Group LLC, a multibillion-dollar sports empire headquartered in Dallas and owned by Lamar Hunt’s descendants. “It’s a wonderful tribute to my dad’s incredible legacy of soccer.”
Hunt, his wife Tavia and their three children live in Highland Park, but they also lease a six-bedroom, two-story apartment atop the owners box at Arrowhead from the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.
![Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt (second from right) with his family, daughters Ava (left)...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/4XQXNZE5N5DE5ILFHYUVPT7E7E.jpg?auth=3ba54750d8fc152c93f0ae37d8ca0070e36b13d4bc74a3233d71b0f2d80b1a47&width=830&quality=80)
Whether they play host in it for the six Kansas City World Cup games is yet to be determined, Hunt said.
Taylor and the Chiefs Kingdom
The Taylor Swift takeover of the NFL and everything Chiefs traces back to her July concerts in Kansas City.
“About two months later, we learned that Travis Kelce might be dating her and she might be at one of our games,” Hunt recalled.
Her game-day appearances soon lit a global firestorm never witnessed before.
![Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce celebrated with girlfriend Taylor Swift after...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/RSORAEQ63RAA7ETSGTLRRCMGUE.jpg?auth=b72c5efdb93b3016cd0bab886a28860582c10a3024fe0c32b270ae2fb3533bb9&width=430&quality=80)
“At first, there was the rumor that it wasn’t a relationship. It was a marketing ploy on the part of Travis and the NFL,” Hunt said. “Of course, all of this is hogwash. If you’ve seen Travis and Taylor together, you can tell they’re definitely in love.”
Heading into the Super Bowl, one sports branding firm estimates that Swift’s association with the Chiefs and the NFL has brought a $331.5 million boost to the team and league. Her impact on female viewership also has been staggering: a 53% increase among those aged 12-17, a 34% rise in those over 35 and 24% in the 18-24 demographic.
Forbes estimated the Chiefs’ value at $4.3 billion at the start of the season.
“It’s been startling to see the amount of attention that we’ve directly received because she’s been attending our games,” Hunt said. “It speaks to her being truly a global superstar. We’re delighted to have her part of the Chiefs Kingdom now.”
The Hunts gave Swift a crystal Judith Leiber “Hot Mic” clutch for her 34th birthday in December.
![The late Norma Hunt placed a scarf on a statue of her husband, FC Dallas founder Lamar Hunt,...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/RC3CYFVF3LG54P45GZUZZHGWYU.jpg?auth=15f08bcdd3999b9659cec4c58a93e5bb218657d93ebb56e3fb56a365bf005ceb&width=830&quality=80)
Parental heavenly hosts
While Taylor Swift is certain to get TV attention during Sunday’s game, Hunt’s thoughts will be on his late parents.
“You can’t go to the Super Bowl without thinking about my dad because of everything that he contributed to the game, including its name,” he said.
This year’s game will be a little bittersweet for the Hunt family. Norma Hunt, considered “the First Lady of Football,” died in June.
“Dad and my mom attended the first 40 Super Bowls together. It was always their favorite trip every year,” Hunt said. “It will be the first game that mom’s not been there with us, having attended all 57 before this one. We were so thrilled last year that she was able to make the game to see the Chiefs lift another Lombardi Trophy.
“So it’s really sad not to have either one of them there this year. But I know they’re both looking down and will be rooting for the Chiefs on Sunday.”
The 49ers are slight favorites for Super Bowl LVIII.
“You know, for the first time in a long time, we haven’t been favored in a lot of games, including the last two playoffs,” Hunt said. “Maybe it gives the guys a little bit of an edge not to be favored. But at the end of the day, I’m not sure that it makes a whole lot of difference.
“These are two great teams, and they’re both gonna go out there trying to play their best football and see where the chips fall.”
The Chiefs have won two Super Bowls in the last four seasons, beating the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV and then beating the Eagles last year in Super Bowl LVII. The trip four years ago was a milestone in that it was the Chiefs’ first appearance in 50 years.
“This one is special in large part because we went through some adversity,” Hunt said. “We lost five of eight games late in the season. There was a big question mark as to whether we were going to be able to turn it around. Sure enough, through [head coach] Andy Reid’s leadership, we started to play our best football once we got into the playoffs. Hopefully, that’s where we’ll be on Sunday.”
In the meantime, he’s been riding his Peloton to work off the stress.
Hunt, who soon turns 59, is a highly competitive guy who isn’t about to toss out platitudes about it just being an honor to make it to Las Vegas. He’s in it to win it.
“We didn’t win Super Bowl 55, so we know what that feels like,” he said. “It’s not where you want to be.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Clark Hunt’s birthday. His birthday is Feb. 19.