KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite the seven-hour time difference, a Kansas City Chiefs fan from Wichita who is vacationing in Spain managed to watch the Chiefs vs. Bills game last weekend, and plans to do the same this Sunday for the AFC Championship Game with a view of palm trees and the Mediterranean Ocean.
Shawn Rhodes also stumbled across the international Chiefs Kingdom while visiting Spain, with Spanish fans sporting jerseys and Chiefs flags flying.
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Rhodes originally traveled to Europe with his girlfriend to see his sister, who lives in Hamburg, Germany, for Christmas. He was eventually joined by his son who flew from Wichita, and his daughter who is getting her French degree in France. The group decided to stick around in Europe for the graduation of Rhodes' girlfriend's daughter in Spain, where Rhodes found some similarities to Kansas City.
"It kind of blew my mind," Rhodes said. "So, as we're getting into Seville, Spain, we see this sign (while) driving that says 'Kansas City Avenue.' I'm like that is totally not Spanish. Everybody knows that in Kansas, Kansas is not a Spanish word. And then there was another sign and another sign. Turns out, it's a huge avenue that they changed the name to 'Kansas City Avenue' in Spain."
Seville, Spain, is a sister city of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City echoed the style of Plaza de España in Seville when designing and building the County Club Plaza in 1922. The Plaza de España was completed just years later in 1929.
But that's not the only similarity. When checking into their hotel in Seville, Rhodes found out the concierge is a Chiefs fan.
"She's like, 'Oh, we're huge Chiefs fans,'" Rhodes said. "She started pulling out pictures of their baby, like their year-old baby, in a Chiefs jersey and they're wearing their Chiefs jersey. And there's a bunch of Kansas City fans from Spain in Seville who watch the games whenever they can get a chance to."
Rhodes recalled staying up until 3 a.m. to watch the Chiefs vs. Bills game on Jan. 21 in Spain.
"And occasionally, we'll see a Kansas City, you know, Chiefs flag flying in Seville. It was just bizarre," he said.
While Rhodes said he wasn't able to experience a game day in Seville, he said he knows fans there plan on watching the AFC Championship Game.
"The Chiefs Kingdom expanded. How about that? That's so fun," he said.
Although, Chiefs Kingdom has expanded to other parts of Europe, as well.
Rhodes explained an encounter he had while wearing a Travis Kelce jersey in Germany: "I was in Hamburg, Germany, and this 23-year-old girl comes up to me and she said, 'I've got one of those,' (and I) was like, 'One of what?' (She responded), 'One of those shirts, Taylor Swift's boyfriend shirts.'"
On Sunday, Rhodes and his family plan on tuning into the AFC Championship Game at 9 p.m. Spain time, with Spanish-style game day food.
"And there will be beer," he said.
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