Despite a pandemic and precautions reducing the number of fans in the stands Sunday, a group of Central Missouri residents will make a return trip to the Super Bowl to cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Ann Kampeter and Leah Hilgert, both of Holts Summit, will travel with four others to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
"I've been a season ticket-holder for 13 years, and the rest of our group also has season tickets," Kampeter said. "It's definitely going to be different than last year when we went to Miami, but with all the precautions they're taking, like having to wear a mask all the time, we feel safe. It's nothing more than what we're used to dealing with right now."
The group plans to leave Missouri on Saturday and return Monday.
Despite national reports of the lowest ticket prices coming in at $5,138 and the highest at $18,450, Kampeter said they got good deals for their seats.
"We got on the lower level on the Chiefs side, so we're very excited," Kampeter said. "Hopefully we bring back a win."
To help with social distancing, the NFL announced there would be cardboard cut outs placed in seats that would be taken out of use during the game. There will only be 22,000 people in a stadium that at capacity would hold more than 65,000.
"We bought these tickets before the Chiefs clinched their chance to go," Hilgert said. "I had some people ask me what would we think if they didn't make it, would we still want to go. I told them, 'We can root against Tom Brady if the Chiefs don't make it.'"
Last year in Miami, Hilgert made posters with pictures of Chiefs players to hold up at the game, some which made it onto the big screens at the stadium.
"We're making posters again, and on one we've got 'Move over GOAT, make room for the KID,'" Hilgert laughed, referring to Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. "Hopefully we'll get back on again this year."
Kampeter said they rolled their season tickets to this coming year as a precaution because of COVID-19, and she hopes they can get back to tailgating in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot before and after games.
"It took a long time for us to get back to the Super Bowl, so going back-to-back is awesome," Kampeter said. "I didn't think we'd see that happen."