With Iowa State’s season opener against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits looming, Iowa State and Kansas State inked an agreement late last week to play each other in the Kansas City Chiefs’ home venue, Arrowhead Stadium, during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Sending our Cyclones down to the “Paris of the Plains” to play ball isn’t a new concept: they last played there in the opening game of their 2002 season, losing to Florida State 38-31.

Arrowhead Stadium, even in its current state of construction, seats just over 77,000 people, and generally seats nearly 80,000. That’s between 20,000 and 30,000 more than Jack Trice. This increased seating, plus the hype and excitement that surrounds playing in a prestigious venue, would lead to increased earnings of $800,000 over the two years that this agreement exists. Furthermore, ISU and KSU season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to the game.

There is enormous potential in this arrangement. Not only is there a definite incentive from a business standpoint, but the increased publicity and exposure in the Kansas City area will be advantageous. Beyond that, athletic director Jamie Pollard has also spoken, at least informally, about the possibility of extending this agreement. She has also mentioned the creation of a traveling trophy.

Sure, Kansas City is over 200 miles from Ames. There are, however, nearly 5,000 ISU alumni in the Kansas City area. Furthermore, according to the Iowa State Alumni Association, there are nearly another 5,000 alumni in southwest Iowa, for whom Kansas City is a considerably shorter jaunt.

Iowa State athletics has a long history of success in Kansas City, as well. Indeed, the ISU men’s basketball team had such success in Kemper Arena that it earned the sobriquet “Hilton South”. Iowa State fans have proven repeatedly that they are more than willing to follow their team en masse at least as far as Kansas City and, on occasion, even down to Shreveport, LA.

That’s another facet of this agreement that works to the advantage of ISU fans. While both teams have been to five bowl games this decade — and each won two of their five — both teams’ bowl outlook is, well, ambiguous. Besides, let’s face it: you need a slightly higher status than the Independence Bowl to play in a stadium like Arrowhead. This agreement gives Cyclone fans an opportunity to watch their team play ball in a large stadium in a major city — and drink beer while they’re at it.

All told, this agreement is a net positive for ISU fans and the Iowa State community, and we hope to see more positive steps like this in the future.