I began watching The Kingdom on ESPN with the casual curiosity of someone who’s seen plenty of sports documentaries. You expect the familiar beats — the locker room speeches, the tactical whiteboards, the dramatic pivot from doubt to triumph. But this series is something different. Not just a compelling behind-the-scenes production, but a window into a franchise that has become a benchmark for what strategy can look like in the modern world of sport and entertainment.
The Wall Street Journal captured it well, describing The Kingdom as “less about football than it is about the way the Chiefs’ organisation has come to embody excellence and purpose on and off the field.” That line sharpened my thinking — because what the series reveals is exactly what strong strategy demands: clarity of vision, alignment of leadership, disciplined execution, and a constant bridging of the gap between where you are today and where you aim to be tomorrow.
Since March 2025, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Kansas City Chiefs through 3HORIZONS (powered by Strategy in Action) — partnering with the EVP team and wider leadership to shape and activate the organisation’s strategic priorities. It’s been a privilege to collaborate with such a forward-thinking group, alongside colleagues from our team at 3HORIZONS. Together, we’ve worked collaboratively to ensure that strategy isn’t just well thought out, but articulated and embedded — with clarity, accountability, and visibility of impact throughout the business.
This OpEd is not a recap – it’s a strategic reflection. Because beneath the storytelling, the Chiefs are offering one of the most relevant and transferable lessons in modern business: how to stay rooted in identity, but relentlessly committed to growth.
The Kansas City Chiefs heritage remains firmly anchored in place. Arrowhead’s roar is still one of the most recognisable soundscapes in American sport. The fanbase is as loyal as ever. The values — humility, resilience and community — remain non-negotiable. But the organization’s outlook is evolving.
Clark Hunt, Chairman and CEO of the Chiefs, said it plainly and simply in his Newsweek profile, “We want to be the world’s team.” A statement like that could be read as ambition without substance. As hubris even. But in this case, it’s backed by purposeful strategic action. The Chiefs were among the first to engage with the NFL’s Global Markets Program, securing rights in Germany and expanding their international footprint. They’ve embraced global fixtures not as obligations, but as showcases. Their season-opening game this year in São Paulo, Brazil wasn’t a mere scheduling quirk — it was a continuation of a global brand strategy already in motion.
“We want to be the world’s team” Clark Hunt, Chairman & CEO, Kansas City Chiefs
In parallel, their decision to host a marquee college football game at Arrowhead — Nebraska vs Cincinnati — is another example of this strategic intent. It positions the stadium as more than a venue, and the organisation as more than a team. It signals the Chiefs’ intent to act as a broader platform for sport and entertainment — both locally and globally.
As with all good strategic plans, at the center of it are passionate and purposeful people. The Chiefs are underpinned by a strong and cohesive leadership structure. Mark Donovan continues to play a central role — pivotal as both President and a strategist — translating the organisation’s global ambition into operating reality. He is supported by a deeply experienced EVP team, blending commercial, operational and sporting expertise drawn from both inside and outside the world of football. The diversity of perspective and the clarity of ownership that team brings has been a critical success factor — one I’ve seen first-hand in my work with them.
One expression of that strategic rigor is Foolish Club Studios, a recently developed proprietary content platform that sits squarely within the wider growth strategy. It extends the brand into culture and media in a way that is both relevant and deliberate, opening new channels for engagement while maintaining authenticity. It reinforces the point that strategic choices aren’t just theoretical — they’re operational.
And throughout, what’s impressed me most is the clarity of strategic purpose — not just the vision, but how that vision cascades into real decisions, and ultimately into execution. Kansas City is home — but the mindset, and the systems now in place, are designed to reach far beyond it.
The Chiefs’ rise is impressive, but context matters. This is an organisation that has won two Super Bowls in the last three years — a remarkable achievement in any sport, but especially in the NFL, which is engineered to prevent dynasties. The global sports economy is growing fast — and fragmenting just as quickly. PwC forecasts sponsorship revenues alone will grow from $115bn in 2025 to over $160bn by 2030. Live sport remains one of the few formats that reliably draws mass audiences. But the fight for attention — and for relevance — has never been fiercer.
Within the U.S. the NFL leads — but it certainly does not dominate uncontested. The NBA continues to innovate and build global equity. MLB has found ways to re-energise its base. NCAA College Football is scaling as a competitive commercial force. And internationally, properties such as the Premier League, Formula One and IPL Cricket maintain their dominance in home markets, whilst actively stealing market share across borders.
The Chiefs aren’t in the business of waiting for the market to decide their place in that landscape — they’ve acted. Their entry into college football, their strategic use of media, their commitment to player-first investments — these aren’t defensive moves. They’re proactive choices designed to strengthen the franchise in a market where the lines between sport, media, tech and culture continue to blur.
And they’ve done so while confronting the structural constraints of their own league. The NFL is engineered for churn. Salary caps, draft rules, free agency — all designed to prevent dynasties. Continuity is a luxury. Sustained success is rare. The Chiefs have had to navigate coordinator turnover, contract management, and shifting expectations — particularly from their players.
When the NFLPA released its club report cards, many organisations hesitated. The Chiefs responded. They upgraded facilities, prioritised the athlete experience, and made clear that leadership means listening. In a league where your ability to attract and retain talent is everything, this was not just the right thing to do — it was smart strategy.
What enables the Chiefs to navigate these challenges is the system they’re continually building around strategic discipline — something I’ve been fortunate to contribute to in a focused way. Planning, ownership, iteration, visibility — the building blocks are all there. And perhaps most importantly, the franchise understands that it’s not just competing with teams. It’s competing with everything. The attention economy doesn’t care about tradition. It cares about relevance.
That’s why the storytelling matters. The Mahomes contract — as cultural anchor. Kelce — as crossover brand. The Kingdom — as platform. These are not just moments. They’re deliberate (sometimes opportunistic) efforts to extend the brand across channels, generations and geographies. They protect and project the franchise into the future.
What makes the Chiefs’ approach distinctive isn’t any one decision. It’s the consistency across decisions. It’s the system.
Clarity of strategy. Kansas City remains the centre of gravity. But the vision — to grow, lead and inspire globally — is reinforced from the boardroom to the locker room. Strategy here is not abstract. It guides decision-making at every level.
Extreme ownership. Direction is set at the top. But as it cascades, accountability doesn’t thin out — it intensifies. Leadership owns outcomes. Teams understand their role. And individuals know where they contribute. This is accountability as culture.
Measured adaptation. The team is honest about where it excels, and where it must improve. From fan experience to facilities, from brand expansion to internal systems — gaps are acknowledged and addressed with intent. There’s no pretence. Just progress.
These aren’t just best practices — they’re strategic disciplines. And they are increasingly essential in a world where industries are being reshaped by disruption, attention scarcity and constant change.
Working with the Chiefs — and with other leading organisations — I often look for the moment where strategy stops being a concept and becomes a committed reality. The Chiefs are dedicated to living and breathing this ethos, and are reaping the benefits as a result.
At the beginning of The Kingdom, you expect a documentary, even by the end of the first episode, you’ve seen something else – a strategy unfolding in real time.
Vision translated. Culture activated. Execution owned.
The Chiefs aren’t just telling a story. They’re running a system. And for anyone trying to lead in an era of change — in sport, business or beyond — it’s a system worth understanding.
