Where’s Lot J? Inside Chiefs tailgate that draws thousands with ‘Midwestern hospitality’

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As fans enter the parking lot outside of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium before a Chiefs’ home game, there’s an electric buzz fueled by the excitement of tailgating fans.

Red-and-gold-clad revelers sprawled across the stadium’s 1.64 million square feet, with some fans camping out by the entrance gates the night before the home game. One of the largest tailgate parties takes place in Lot J.

The parking lot is one of the furthest lots from an entrance into the football arena, located on Lancer Lane on the west side of neighboring Kauffman Stadium.

A throng of Chiefs fans gathers with other fans who call themselves the Lot J Tailgate Crew. They enjoy food like bratwursts and bacon-wrapped steak spread across tables draped in red and gold. They sip on the Kelce brothers’ Garage Beer and other sponsor-provided adult beverages while a DJ pumps music from a nearby trailer.

Fans from rival teams are always welcome to join the festivities and engage in some friendly smack talk.

Across three trailers and grills, the crew feeds what they estimate are thousands of fellow tailgaters. A gathering so large that they sometimes run out of food.

“We love the Midwestern hospitality,” founding crew member Josh Young said. “Just treat people like humans and open up the space for them.”

‘Why don’t we do this?’

The crew started hosting the tailgates in 2016 with their own money and through donations.

Most of the food is pre-made by Blended Vibes Catering, based in Olathe. Larry Fennell, one of the company’s owners, tailgated in Lot J for 30 years, said Nate Morrow, one of the crew’s founding members.

The weekly menu is stuffed with over 100 pounds of food. Last Saturday’s AFC divisional round game against the Texans featured 70 pounds of smoked pork butt, 60 pounds of grilled chicken, 50 pounds of chicken wings, five rib steaks, and six pans of macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes, Morrow said.

The Lot J Tailgate Crew is also known for their homemade jalapeno poppers prepared by Jeff Loecker, who drives down from South Dakota for every game. For the Texans playoff game, Loecker made 900 jalapeno poppers.

The duo was part of a group of 25 friends who regularly tailgated in the parking lot for Chiefs home games. They were inspired to create their own tailgating group after being hosted by a Texans tailgate crew during the Chiefs’ playoff game in 2016.

“We had a blast. We became friends with these guys,” Morrow said about the experience. “And we’re like, ‘Why don’t we do this for people coming into Arrowhead?’”

A Facebook group that started with 25 tailgating members quickly grew to 500, then 3,000, and eventually 10,000. Today, the group has nearly 30,000 members, and any Facebook user can join with a simple request.

The group has also expanded beyond tailgating and has hosted local events and events for several Chiefs away games.

They created a separate entity called, Chop It Up Travel Club, that offers memberships and sells tickets for parties, rallies and other events. It also makes travel arrangements for specific Chiefs away games.

The crew has taken several road trips over the years, including when the Chiefs played in Germany last season.

Young and Morrow said they realized how popular the crew had become in 2020 when they hosted a Super Bowl rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. before the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV win in Miami.

The event drew 16,000 participants, they said.

“It was almost like a surreal moment of like, ‘Oh my God, look at what we did,’” Young said.

“People will come up to me at a tailgate and say, ‘Man, I’ll never forget that party in Fort Lauderdale,’” Morrow said.

The duo said they like to cheer on their favorite team with others.

“We do this stuff to give people that experience everywhere we go,” Morrow said.

Chris White, who hosts WolfPack Tailgating with the Lot J Tailgate Crew, said he shares the same thinking.

“The folks that tell us afterward that they’ve never experienced anything like this, they’ve never had a tailgate experience. That’s what makes it all worth it,” White said.

Big AFC Championship plans

On Saturday, the Lot J Tailgate Crew, are scheduled to host a rally at the VooDoo Lounge inside Harrah’s Kansas City casino. The event will feature former Chiefs players Dante Hall, Shawn Barber, and Danan Hughes. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online or at the door.

The crew has been able to develop relationships with several current and former players through their events.

Young said his connections to the team grown their ownership of Il Lazzarone Pizza, a popular team during summer training camp in St. Joseph.

For Sunday, the NFL Network plans to host their ‘Good Morning Football’ pregame show at the crew’s tailgate, said Morrow.

And there’s a special meat on the menu for Sunday’s tailgate: bison.

Ahead of the AFC Championship, the crew will serve 55 pounds of bison meat that will be cooked into macaroni and made into burgers and bratwursts, courtesy of KC Buffalo at Batchelder Family Farms in Belton.

Morrow and Young said it’s fun to watch the Chiefs win and produce the events. But the events take a lot of work to create.

“My wife will tell you that football season for me with the Chiefs winning Super Bowls starts in July and it doesn’t end until May,” Young said.

The Chiefs have hosted seven straight AFC Championships, six of which have been at Arrowhead. A Chiefs win on Sunday puts them in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

The Lot J Tailgate Crew already has plans in the works if the Chiefs reach a third consecutive Super Bowl. The crew plans to be in attendance but their event plans will be kept quiet barring Sunday’s outcome.

Morrow and Young struggled to imagine their feelings if the Chiefs won a third straight Super Bowl.

“A lot of tears would be shed,” Young said. “I feel like this team is a piece of me too.”

“The feeling that you get being a part of a team and being a champion and for the city and everything,” Morrow said, ”There’s no words for it.”