Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportsman and promoter of
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
,
soccerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
,
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
, and
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and an inductee of the first three sports'
halls of fameA hall of fame is a type of museum established for any a field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field.In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or museums which enshrine the honorees with sculptures, plaques, and displays of memorabilia...
. He was one of the founders of the
American Football LeagueThe American Football League was a major Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the established National Football League . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
(AFL) and
Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by United States Soccer Federation . The league comprises 15 teams, 14 in the U.S. and one in Canada...
(MLS), as well as MLS predecessor the
North American Soccer LeagueNorth American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
(NASL). He was also the founder and owner of the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
's
Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, the
Kansas City WizardsThe Kansas City Wizards are an American, professional soccer club based in the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area that participates in Major League Soccer. In 2007 the team moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas with plans to build a new stadium there near the Kansas...
and at his death owned two MLS teams,
Columbus CrewThe Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that participates in Major League Soccer. The club was owned by the legendary Lamar Hunt, who also owned the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas until his 2006 death. Upon his death, his son Clark Hunt took over his...
and
FC DallasFC Dallas is an American professional soccer team based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas that participates in Major League Soccer...
. The oldest annual team tournament in the
U.S. in any sportSports in the United States are an important part of the United States' culture. However, the sporting culture of the U.S. is different from that of many other countries. Compared to any other nation, Americans prefer a unique set of sports. For example, soccer, the most popular sport in the world,...
, soccer's
U.S. Open CupThe Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer....
(founded 1914) now bears his name in honor of his pioneering role in that sport stateside. In
Kansas CityKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
, Hunt also helped establish the
Worlds of FunWorlds of Fun is an amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The park opened in 1973 and was originally built by Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman. In 1995 Hunt-Midwest sold Worlds of Fun to Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., who currently owns the park...
and
Oceans of FunOceans of Fun is a tropically-themed water park that opened on May 31, 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri to celebrate Worlds of Fun's 10th year anniversary. At the time it was opened it was the largest water park in the world. It is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. Oceans of Fun is...
theme parks. He was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees...
in 1972; into the
National Soccer Hall of FameThe National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame in Oneonta, New York which honors soccer achievements in the United States. The museum first opened its doors in 1979....
in 1982; and into the
International Tennis Hall of FameThe International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit tennis hall of fame and museum at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.- History :...
in 1993. The National Soccer Hall of Fame bestowed upon Hunt their Medal of Honor in 1999, an award given to only 3 recipients in history thus far. He was married for 42 years to his second wife Norma, and had four children, Sharron, Lamar Jr., Daniel and
Clark HuntClark Knobel Hunt is Chairman of the Board of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and a founding investor-owner in Major League Soccer. Hunt inherited ownership of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew and FC Dallas in 2006....
.
Early life
Hunt was born in
El Dorado, ArkansasEl Dorado is a city in Union County, Arkansas, USA. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,467. The city is the county seat of Union County, and home to the headquarters of Murphy Oil Corporation, Deltic Timber Corporation, and Lion Oil Refinery...
, the son of oil tycoon
H. L. HuntHaroldson Lafayette Hunt, Jr. , known throughout his life as "H. L. Hunt," was an American oil tycoon.Hunt was born near Ramsey, in Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois, the youngest of eight children...
and younger brother of tycoons
Nelson Bunker HuntNelson Bunker Hunt is an American oil company executive. He is best known as a former billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brother William Herbert Hunt tried but failed to corner the world market in silver.
He is also a successful thoroughbred horse...
and William Herbert Hunt. Lamar was raised in
Dallas, TexasDallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
. He attended Culver Military Academy and graduated from
The Hill SchoolThe Hill School is an American preparatory boarding school for boys and girls in grades nine through twelve. It provides a post-graduate program for students who graduated from high school....
in
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
in 1950 and
Southern Methodist UniversitySouthern Methodist University is a private, coeducational university in University Park, Texas . Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU currently operates campuses in University Park, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico...
in Dallas in 1956, with a B.S. degree in
geologyGeology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
. Hunt was a
college footballCollege football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...
player who rode the bench but was still an avid sports enthusiast during his time in college and throughout his entire childhood. While attending SMU Hunt joined the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and in 1972 was named "man of the year."
Founding of the American Football League
On the strength of his great inherited oil wealth, Hunt applied for a
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
expansion franchise but was turned down. In 1959, professional football was a distant second to
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
in popularity, and the thinking among NFL executives was that the league must be careful not to "oversaturate" the market by expanding too quickly.
In response, in 1960 Hunt took the lead with fellow
TexanTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
and oil man K.S.
Bud AdamsKenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans National Football League franchise. He was a charter owner in the former American Football League with the Titans' predecessor franchise, the Houston Oilers...
of
HoustonHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, who likewise had tried and failed to be granted an NFL franchise, in forming the
American Football LeagueThe American Football League was a major Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the established National Football League . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
. Hunt and Adams encouraged, wheedled, and cajoled six other like-minded wealthy men, three of them fellow
TexanTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
to form this new league. The group of the eight founders of the AFL teams was referred to as the "Foolish Club." Hunt's goal was to bring professional football to Texas and to acquire an NFL team for the Hunt family. Hunt became owner of the
Dallas TexansThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and hired future hall-of-famer
Hank StramHenry Louis "Hank" Stram , was an American college and Professional Football coach. He is best known for his fifteen-year tenure with the American Football League's Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs and the Chiefs of the NFL. Stram won three AFL Championships and Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs...
as the team's first head coach.
Ownership and NFL merger
The Dallas Texans won the AFL Championship in 1962 over the 2-time defending champion Houston Oilers in the longest professional game ever played as of that time and were one of the most successful AFL teams in the league's early days. But the Texans' success failed to draw fans in large numbers, as the Texans had to compete for fan loyalty with their cross-town NFL rivals, the
Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
. In 1963 Hunt began to consider moving the team.
Kansas CityKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
quickly became one of the contending cities for the franchise. During cloak-and-dagger negotiating sessions, in order to convince Hunt to move the team to Kansas City, mayor H. Roe Bartle promised Hunt home attendance of 25,000 people per game. Hunt finally agreed to move the team to Kansas City and in 1963 the Dallas Texans became the
Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
.
In the Chiefs' early days, attendance did not match the expansive claims Mayor Bartle had made. But in 1966 average home attendance at Chiefs games picked up and reached 37,000. By 1969—aided by some very successful and entertaining teams—Chiefs' home attendance had reached 51,000. In 1966 the Chiefs won their first AFL Championship and reached the first ever
Super BowlThe First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...
(a name coined by Hunt, who took it in part from the then popular toy, the Super Ball)-- then called the “AFL-NFL Championship Game” -- where they lost to the
Green Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League and are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.The Packers are the last vestige of "small town...
. The Chiefs remained successful through the 1960s, and in 1970 the Chiefs reached the pinnacle of success, winning the AFL Championship and later went on to win
Super Bowl IVSuper Bowl IV was the fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game in American Professional Football, and the second one to officially bear the name "Super Bowl"...
(the last Super Bowl played when the AFL was a separate league prior to it being absorbed into the NFL as the
American Football ConferenceThe American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . The other is the National Football Conference . This conference, along with the NFC, contains 16 teams...
) over the heavily-favored
Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional football team based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . Prior to divisional realignment in 2002, they had been a member of the Central Division, also...
.
The rosters of the AFL were always stocked with a certain number of players who would have excelled in any league—and that number grew as the 1960s progressed. The best AFL coaches and owners, many of them new to the pro game, brought color, excitement and important new strategic and marketing ideas to pro football, which had often been dominated by play-calling which overrated the value of eliminating mistakes and underrated the element of surprise. While the NFL was always almost certainly the better league as a whole, the best teams of the AFL were increasingly the equals of any team in the NFL.
The AFL also substantially raised football players' salaries by frequently bidding against the NFL for the top college stars. It was the NFL's concern for containing salaries, more than anything else, that led a reluctant NFL to accept a merger between the two leagues in 1970. The older league could no longer claim to be far superior because by then the AFL champion
New York JetsThe New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the Northeastern New Jersey part of the tri-state New York metropolitan area. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays its home games in East...
had defeated the vaunted
Baltimore ColtsThe Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are 2006 champions of the American Football Conference and the National Football League ....
of the NFL to win the Super Bowl. The Chiefs' triumph over the Vikings the following season further showcased the AFL's ability.
Today's "descendants" from the AFL, the Patriots, Bills, Jets, Titans, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers, Dolphins and Bengals would not have existed if it hadn’t been for Lamar Hunt. What’s more, the NFL’s Cowboys, created specifically to drive the AFL out of Dallas, would not have existed. Neither would the Vikings, an NFL franchise that was given to Max Winter to pull out of the original eight-team American Football League; nor would the Falcons, which the NFL gave to Rankin Smith to deter him from the AFL’s Miami franchise. Neither would the Saints, whose franchise was granted by the NFL after certain Louisiana congressmen pushed the AFL-NFL merger to completion. Or the Houston Texans, created to replace the Houston Oilers after they moved to Tennessee and became the Tennessee Titans. Thus, fifteen professional football teams would not have existed in fifteen cities today, if Lamar Hunt had not had the vision and the courage to “fight the establishment”.
In 1972, Hunt became the first American Football League personage inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees...
. The trophy presented to each year's
AFCThe American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . The other is the National Football Conference . This conference, along with the NFC, contains 16 teams...
Champions is named the Lamar Hunt Trophy. In 1984, Hunt was also inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Hunt has also been influential in
soccerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
and
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
, and has contributed to the growth of those sports in the US. He has been elected to the Halls of Fame of both sports.
The NASL: ownership and battles with the NFL
With much already accomplished in the world of American football, Hunt moved on in 1967 to help jump start soccer in the U.S. One of the most influential sportsmen in the world, the impact of Lamar Hunt on soccer in the United States is immeasurable. Hunt championed the sport for more than 30 years, beginning with his first experience with soccer in 1962 when he met his future wife, Norma, at a Shamrock Rovers game in Dublin, Ireland. In 1966, he viewed the FIFA World Cup in England, and then attended nine of the past 11 World Cups (Argentina '78 and Germany 2006 being the exceptions). Hunt was one of the few people in the world who attended a game in every World Cup stadium during World Cup USA 1994, World Cup France 1998 and World Cup Korea/Japan in 2002.
In 1966 he had become enthralled with the
World CupThe FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
on TV, and when it was decided that new pro leagues were to be formed in the U.S., Hunt wanted to be one of the initial movers and shakers.
His team in the
North American Soccer LeagueNorth American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
was the
Dallas TornadoDallas Tornado were a soccer team based in Dallas that played in the NASL. They played from 1967 to 1981. Their home fields were Cotton Bowl , P.C. Cobb Stadium , Franklin Field , Texas Stadium and Ownby Stadium on the SMU campus...
, and they debuted in 1967 as a part of the USA:
United Soccer AssociationThe United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. All the teams in the league were imported...
. In a more fledgling version of what was occurring with the AFL and NFL, in 1968 a pro soccer merger took place to form the
North American Soccer LeagueNorth American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
. Eventually, the
NASLNorth American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
reached 24 teams, and at times, the most popular teams such as the
New York CosmosThe New York Cosmos , known simply as the Cosmos for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, was a soccer franchise based in New York City and its suburbs that operated in the North American Soccer League from 1971 to 1984. Founded by brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün as well as Warner Bros...
occasionally outdrawing their NFL and MLB counterparts in the same cities on the same dates, although the soccer teams did not sustain such attendance levels. With Lamar Hunt as an active advocate for the sport and the league, his team the
Dallas TornadoDallas Tornado were a soccer team based in Dallas that played in the NASL. They played from 1967 to 1981. Their home fields were Cotton Bowl , P.C. Cobb Stadium , Franklin Field , Texas Stadium and Ownby Stadium on the SMU campus...
won the NASL championship in 1971 and were runners-up '73.
The NFL was not happy with Hunt's ownership in and promotion of pro soccer, a sport that was taking away attention and spectators from the American football game. The NFL attempted to force legal requirements that would disallow team ownership in more than one sport for owners of NFL franchises. This strategy backfired onto the NFL, and in fact, the NASL won an anti-trust case against the NFL. A primary benefactor of this outcome was Lamar Hunt, and his legacy of leadership and ownership of pro soccer in those times remains to this day.
Major League Soccer
Lamar Hunt was also one of the original founding investors of Major League Soccer, which debuted in 1996. This time he owned two teams: the
Columbus CrewThe Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that participates in Major League Soccer. The club was owned by the legendary Lamar Hunt, who also owned the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas until his 2006 death. Upon his death, his son Clark Hunt took over his...
and the
Kansas City WizardsThe Kansas City Wizards are an American, professional soccer club based in the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area that participates in Major League Soccer. In 2007 the team moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas with plans to build a new stadium there near the Kansas...
. In 1999, Hunt financed the construction of the
Columbus Crew Stadium-Origins:As a charter franchise in the MLS, the Columbus Crew commenced play at Ohio Stadium in MLS's inaugural season of 1996. As it is principally an American football stadium, the facility was never popular with the team or its fans...
, the first of several large
soccer-specific stadiumSoccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada, coined by Lamar Hunt, to refer to a sports stadium whose primary purpose is to host association football matches...
s in the USA. In 2003, Hunt purchased a third team, the Dallas Burn (now
FC DallasFC Dallas is an American professional soccer team based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas that participates in Major League Soccer...
), after announcing that he would partially finance the construction of their own
soccer-specific stadiumPizza Hut Park is a soccer-specific stadium with a 20,500-seat capacity, built and owned by the suburb of Frisco in Collin County, Texas. Its primary tenant is Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, which relocated from the Cotton Bowl in central Dallas to the fast-growing suburb...
. On 31 August 2006, Hunt sold the Wizards to a six-man ownership group led by Cerner Corporation co-founders Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig.
Other sports and activities
Basketball: Hunt was one of the founding investors of the
Chicago BullsThe Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
of the
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
. He remained a minority owner until his death.
Tennis: In 1967, Hunt co-founded the
World Championship TennisWorld Championship Tennis was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990...
circuit, which gave birth to the open era in tennis. He was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of FameThe International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit tennis hall of fame and museum at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.- History :...
in 1993.
NHL: Hunt and
John H. McConnellJohn Henderson McConnell was the founder of Worthington Industries, which manufactures processed steel products, pressure cylinders, and metal framing. He was the founder, majority owner, chairman, and governor of the Columbus Blue Jackets NHL team...
formed Columbus Hockey Limited, L.L.C. (CHL) in an effort to obtain a
National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league as a joint venture for its self perpetuating membership of 30 franchised member clubs located in the United States and Canada...
franchise for
Columbus, OhioColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
. Following disagreements over the financing for an arena, McConnell accepted an offer to lease a new arena from Nationwide Insurance Enterprise. McConnell froze-out CHL and Hunt and was awarded the NHL
Columbus Blue JacketsThe Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . Preceded in Ohio's capital by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL, the Blue Jackets were founded as an...
franchise. See
McConnell v. Hunt Sports Enterprises, 132 Ohio App.3d 657, 725 N.E.2d 1193 (1999), a lawsuit that Lamar Hunt lost and thus granted McConnel sole ownership of the
Columbus Blue JacketsThe Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . Preceded in Ohio's capital by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL, the Blue Jackets were founded as an...
.
Amusement Parks and Caves: Hunt was also the founder of two theme parks in Kansas City:
Worlds of FunWorlds of Fun is an amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The park opened in 1973 and was originally built by Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman. In 1995 Hunt-Midwest sold Worlds of Fun to Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., who currently owns the park...
and
Oceans of FunOceans of Fun is a tropically-themed water park that opened on May 31, 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri to celebrate Worlds of Fun's 10th year anniversary. At the time it was opened it was the largest water park in the world. It is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. Oceans of Fun is...
, which opened in 1973 and 1982 respectively. The two parks were an outgrowth and adjoined a vast industrial park he developed in the bluffs above the
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana....
in
Clay County, MissouriClay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 184,006. Its county seat is Liberty. The county was organized in 1822 and was named in honor of U.S...
. Immediately south of the parks is the Hunt-developed
SubTropolisSubTropolis is a 55,000,000 square foot , manmade cave in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, United States that is claimed to be the world's largest underground storage facility....
, a 55,000,000 square foot (5,060,000 m³), manmade
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
caveA cave or cavern is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term cave should only apply to cavities that have some part that does not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like sea caves, rock shelters, and...
which is claimed to be the
World's Largest Underground Business Complex (TM). Hunt's extensive business dealings in Clay County were to contribute to the Chiefs having their
NFL Training CampIn the National Football League, training camp refers to the time before the season commences. During this time, teams will sometimes congregate at an outside location, usually a university, to conduct training camp for at least the first few weeks...
at
William Jewell CollegeWilliam Jewell College is a private, four-year liberal arts college of 1,050 undergraduate students located in Liberty, Missouri, U.S. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and other civic leaders which included Robert James, a Baptist minister and Robert S. James,...
in
Liberty, MissouriLiberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2000 census the city population was 26,232. It is the county seat of Clay County.Liberty is also home to William Jewell College.- History :...
until 1991.
Honors
- For service to Dallas, Texas
Dallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
, Lamar Hunt was honored during halftime of the Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
/Kansas City Chiefs game in 2005The 2005 season of the National Football League was the 86th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
.
- For his efforts in building the sport of soccer in the United States in the modern era, Hunt was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame
The National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame in Oneonta, New York which honors soccer achievements in the United States. The museum first opened its doors in 1979....
in 1992, and given their prestigious Medal of Honor in 1999, an award so far given out only 3 times in history.
- The United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Its headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois...
changed the name of its oldest and most prestigious competition, the U.S. Open Cup (est.1914), to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open CupThe Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer....
in 1999.
- The NFL's trophy for the champion of the American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . The other is the National Football Conference . This conference, along with the NFC, contains 16 teams...
is named in honor of Lamar Hunt.
- The winner of the Border Showdown football game receives a trophy named for Lamar Hunt, effective with the 2007 return of the series to Kansas City.
- On December 17, 2006's Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth providing color...
game against the San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are an American Professional Football team based in San Diego, California. They are currently members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League...
, the Kansas City Chiefs wore an emblem on the back of their helmets with the initials "LH" and continued to wear them until the end of the season. For the 2007 season, see "Tribute".
- On March 11, 2007, the inaugural Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup
The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup is a pre-season Major League Soccer game between FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew. Named after the late Lamar Hunt, one of the league's major investors and a key supporter of American soccer, this game is played between the two MLS teams owned by the Hunt Sports Group.The...
match was held at Pizza Hut ParkPizza Hut Park is a soccer-specific stadium with a 20,500-seat capacity, built and owned by the suburb of Frisco in Collin County, Texas. Its primary tenant is Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, which relocated from the Cotton Bowl in central Dallas to the fast-growing suburb...
between Hunt's MLSMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by United States Soccer Federation . The league comprises 15 teams, 14 in the U.S. and one in Canada...
teams, the Columbus CrewThe Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that participates in Major League Soccer. The club was owned by the legendary Lamar Hunt, who also owned the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas until his 2006 death. Upon his death, his son Clark Hunt took over his...
and FC DallasFC Dallas is an American professional soccer team based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas that participates in Major League Soccer...
.
- For the 2007 season, Major League Soccer players will wear a small patch on their arm with the initials LH as a memorial to Lamar Hunt and his contribution to soccer in America. Hunt Sports Group teams the Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that participates in Major League Soccer. The club was owned by the legendary Lamar Hunt, who also owned the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas until his 2006 death. Upon his death, his son Clark Hunt took over his...
and FC DallasFC Dallas is an American professional soccer team based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas that participates in Major League Soccer...
continue to wear these patches in his honor to this day.
- On February 20, 2008, Hunt was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians
The Hall of Famous Missourians is located in Jefferson City, Missouri, in the third-floor rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol. The group of bronze busts depicts prominent Missourians honored for their achievements and contributions to the state. Inductees are selected by the Speaker of the...
in the Missouri state Capitol.
- The St. Mark's School of Texas
The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys located in Dallas, Texas, USA. The School offers grades 1-12.-History:...
Stadium was named after him.
Death
Lamar Hunt died December 13, 2006 at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas of complications related to a ten-year battle with
prostate cancerProstate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems...
. Upon his death, Cowboys owner
Jerry JonesJerral "Jerry" Jones is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise and the Dallas Desperados Arena Football League franchise.-Early life:...
called Hunt, "a founder of the NFL as we know it today.... He's been an inspiration for me."
Said
Dan RooneyDaniel M. Rooney CBE is the American owner and chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team in the National Football League and United States Ambassador to Ireland.. He is the son of team founder and former owner Art Rooney. Rooney was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 for his...
, chairman of the
Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are currently a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
: "Lamar Hunt was one of the most influential owners in professional football over the past 40-plus years, He was instrumental in the formation of the American Football League and in the AFL-NFL merger, which helped the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
grow into America's passion."
The Mayor of
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
, Kay Waldo Barnes, requested that all city flags fly at half-staff the following Thursday and Friday of his passing.
Upon his death his son
Clark HuntClark Knobel Hunt is Chairman of the Board of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs and a founding investor-owner in Major League Soccer. Hunt inherited ownership of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew and FC Dallas in 2006....
was named chairman of the Kansas City Chiefs and FC Dallas. He was elected by his other three siblings, Lamar Jr., Sharron Munson, and Daniel.
Tribute
In 2007, the Kansas City Chiefs honored Hunt and the AFL. The Chiefs
2007 Media Guide is full of images, logos and anecdotes about the league and each of its original teams. Prominently featured in the
Guide and in the Chiefs
2007 Yearbook is a special AFL patch. The
Yearbook's description of the patch states: "As part of a year-long tribute to Hunt in 2007, the Chiefs will wear a commemorative patch that prominently features the American Football League logo to serve as a reminder of Hunt's formation of the AFL and the lasting impact the American Football League has made on the game of Professional Football. The patch will be affixed to the left chest of both Kansas City's home and away jerseys, meaning this piece of woven symbolism will be worn over the heart of every Chiefs player." On January 31, 2008, Clark Hunt, Lamar Hunt's son and President of the Chiefs, announced that henceforth, the patch will be a permanent part of the Chiefs uniform.
In 2007, the Columbus Crew honored their founder and owner by displaying a commemorative Lamar Hunt emblem on the left chest of both the home and away jerseys. The emblem consisted of the initials "LH" within a circle. Prior to the 2008 season, the Crew announced that the "LH" emblem will be a permanent patch on the left sleeve of the club's jerseys. In addition, Crew supporters groups have added the LH emblem to their scarves and banners.
After the Crew won the MLS Cup championship in 2008, the "LH" emblem was inscribed on the inside of the team's championship rings.
See also
External links