Was a Kansas City Chiefs flag buried under Allegiant Stadium?

Chris Maathuis
·2 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Rumors have circulated, and even made headlines, that a Kansas City Chiefs fan buried the team’s flag under the Allegiant Stadium seven years ago when the structure was built.

Allegiant Stadium under construction in Las Vegas before its opening in 2020. (KLAS)
Allegiant Stadium under construction in Las Vegas before its opening in 2020. (KLAS)

Since 2017, this rumor has kept Chiefs fans and others wondering if it could be true. And now with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and playing at the Allegiant Stadium, the interest has peaked.

KLAS-TV, 8 News Now sports director Chris Maathuis decided it was time to get to the bottom of this bizarre story, and he did.

Local labor leader Tommy White spills the beans on whether the flag was actually buried under the Allegiant Stadium. (KLAS)
Local labor leader Tommy White spills the beans on whether the flag was actually buried under the Allegiant Stadium. (KLAS)

It started with two diehard Chiefs fans who were helping with the construction of the future home of the Las Vegas Raiders. As the story goes, Chris Scherzer took a picture of Gerard DeCosta holding a Kansas City Chiefs flag.

“He’s a fantastic Chiefs fan. He loves the Chiefs, said local labor union leader Tommy White. “He’s (DeCosta) been a longtime fan of the Chiefs.”

Scherzer posted a photo of DeCosta holding the flag, which said it was buried in dirt and encased in concrete before the stadium was built on top of it. Raider Nation was outraged. Mark Badain, Raiders president at the time, contacted White wanting to know if it was true, and White tracked down DeCosta.

The two Raiders rivals were able to take their prank to epic proportions that continue to make headlines even this week.

<em>As word spread about the Chiefs fan burying a team flag under the Allegiant Stadium, news media picked up the story. </em>
As word spread about the Chiefs fan burying a team flag under the Allegiant Stadium, news media picked up the story.

White was able to put an end to the hoax. He oversaw the construction of the stadium, and when he contacted DeCosta and asked for the flag, DeCosta gave it to him, proving it hadn’t been buried and admitting it was a hoax.

<em>Local labor leader Tommy White holds up the Chiefs flag supposedly buried under Allegiant Stadium. (KLAS)</em>
Local labor leader Tommy White holds up the Chiefs flag supposedly buried under Allegiant Stadium. (KLAS)

“He just told me the full story about it,” White said as he held up the flag. “This is his flag. It’s never been buried.”

DeCosta hopes to make it to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, where he pulled off the biggest bluff in the Chiefs’ history seven years ago.

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