When the Kansas City Chiefs won the 2020 Super Bowl on Sunday, February 2, the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation was tasked with planning a rally and parade in downtown Kansas City, MO in two days – for Wednesday, February 5.
With the whole country tuning into the afternoon rally and parade on national television, the KC Sports Commission not only had to manage the safety of thousands of attendees but also to clearly brand the Chiefs organization and maintain the excitement from the team’s big win.
What was involved in producing event signage for such a large audience and quick turnaround?
The Kansas City Chiefs and the KC Sports Commission designed most of the signage, and they teamed up with local and national partners to produce the signage. “We obviously had to work ahead with respect to design – so we had most of it ready to go before the Super Bowl,” said Katherine Fox, director of marketing and sales for the KC Sports Commission.
“From a budget management (and superstition!) perspective, we wanted to hold off production on as much as possible. We did produce all of the stage signage in advance,” said Fox.
After the Chief’s exciting comeback to win the Super Bowl, the KC Sports Commission moved forward quickly with producing the remaining signage for the rally and parade. “The signage companies were definitely patient with us as we pushed them on deadlines. I do think using local companies helped because they are Chiefs fans, wanted to be a part of history, understood our situation and were willing to be as helpful as possible,” said Fox.
Vector Media, a national experiential branding and design firm, handled the wrapping of the red double-decker buses that carried the Chiefs players gleefully tossing footballs and drinking beer. Kansas City company, Custom Color, produced the street pole banners along Grand Boulevard as well as the large window banners at Union Station.
Another local company, LTD Signs & Graphics, LLC, produced the mesh banners on the stage at Union Station as well as the banners decorating the non-bus parade vehicles and the vehicle magnet banners.
“We waited until after the game to start producing the banners,” said Tim Mayer, owner of LTD Signs and Graphics. “It was a one to two day turnaround on some of the signage. The KC Sports Commission was great to work with. We loved the designs, they reacted quickly, and the files came in clean. We do a lot of work with the Kansas City Chiefs, and they recommended us to the KC Sports Commission.”
The KC Sports Commission has some experience with quickly turning around signage for national championship wins, with the Kansas City Royals as well as Sporting KC winning their league championships within the past 5 years.
And this year, the team behind the Chiefs’ Victory Parade (the Kansas City Chiefs, the KC Sports Commission and the national and local signage vendors), helped thousands of Chiefs fans celebrate the first Super Bowl victory of their team in 50 years.
Photos Courtesy of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation
