We’re taking Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift on a road trip to Vegas (kinda)

Editor’s Note: This is a dispatch from our Red Kingdom Road Trip. We’re connecting with Chiefs fans across the country ahead of the Super Bowl — share your story with us using this form. Read more from our journey to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl here on KansasCity.com, in our newsletters, or on The Star’s Instagram.

Are the Kansas City Chiefs America’s Team? That’s what our Red Kingdom Road Trip crew is setting out today from Kansas City to find out.

Chiefs Kingdom has grown far beyond the Kansas City metro during the Patrick Mahomes era. The team is in contention to be considered a true sports dynasty. Last week, the famed sports broadcaster Bob Costas said on CNN that he thinks the Chiefs have replaced the Dallas Cowboys as America’s Team.

We have a suspicion that he might be right.

After all, this will be the Chiefs’ fourth Super Bowl in five years. Patrick Mahomes has a chance to lift his third Lombardi Trophy and etch his name onto an exclusive list of NFL legends. Meanwhile, Travis Kelce has the chance to build on what’s already been a big year — on and off the field.

From hosting “Saturday Night Live” to dating Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, it’s no secret that Kelce has ascended to a new level of fame. And Taylor Swift joining Chiefs Kingdom has boosted already-high game viewership, supported local Kansas City businesses, and introduced a legendary NFL team to a legion of new fans.

It all means that more people than ever are paying attention to the Chiefs.

Meet our road trip crew

We’re sending three journalists on the road to meet Chiefs fans along the way to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Their journey begins today and will take our team to Wichita before heading west to Liberal, Kansas.

Follow along all week as Star journalists Alison Booth, Emily Curiel and Irvin Zhang bring us dispatches from the road. Oh, and we can’t forget to tell you about their other passengers: life size cutouts of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs’ most famous fan, Taylor Swift.

Catch up with everything happening on the trip here on KansasCity.com, in our newsletters and on The Star’s Instagram account. We’ll share stories from fans that the team meets along the way and other discoveries. You can share your story with us here.

Before they packed up the car, we asked our traveling journalists to tell us a little bit about what they are looking forward to most on the Red Kingdom Road Trip:

Alison Booth

I’ve been a Chiefs fan my whole life, but the first time I remember really, really rooting for this KC team was the last time they faced the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. I was in college, and surrounded by a group of friends from the Bay Area who were pulling for the 49ers.

This time around, I’m excited to be in the thick of the action — and surrounded by Chiefs fans.

As my love for this Chiefs team has grown, so too has my adoration for Chiefs Kingdom. I’m excited to get on the road to find Chiefs fans from all over, to meet people who love Kansas City as much as I do. I’m pumped for our road trip playlist, and to try KC-style barbecue in other cities. But especially, I’m excited to see how KC’s sense of community expands beyond the confines of our city.

Alison is an audience producer for The Star She joined the newsroom in 2022 and works to connect local audiences to our journalism. She grew up in Shawnee and graduated from Northeastern University.

Emily Curiel

I’m excited to explore various regions of the U.S. that I haven’t had the chance to visit before and to connect with diverse communities along the way.

It’s surreal to think that I’ll be shooting my first Super Bowl. While football has never been my forté, my perspective shifted upon joining The Star. Through capturing Chiefs games in my lens, I’ve deepened my understanding of the sport and developed a newfound appreciation for it as a photojournalist.

On a personal level, I’m particularly looking forward to sampling authentic Texas barbecue during our journey. Food has a unique way of fostering connections and I’m eager to taste the flavors of different regions.

Overall, this season has been filled with excitement and anticipation. As the Chiefs gear up for another Super Bowl.

Emily, a visual journalist, started at The Star in 2021. She specializes in photography and videography. She’s a first-generation college graduate – from San Francisco State University – and a native of Los Angeles.

Irvin Zhang

Of course being in the city hosting the Super Bowl will be rad — plus it’ll be my first time in Las Vegas — but I’m really looking forward to meeting Chiefs fans in unexpected places, as cheesy as that might sound.

It has been amazing to witness how much the Chiefs have put Kansas City on a national stage since I joined The Star in 2021, and this feels like the culmination of all that with the special opportunity to witness a dynasty being cemented — and in the city of an AFC West rival, at that.

Irvin, The Star’s newsletter writer, joined the newsroom in 2021. He leads newsletter strategy in addition to being the primary writer for our flagship morning and afternoon sends. He’s a Northeastern University graduate.