Dallas FC, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Bulls – all have one thing in common—the Lamar Hunt connection. Son of oil tycoon Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, Lamar Hunt single-handedly created what is now a diverse multi-billion dollar family legacy. While H. L. Hunt’s sons and daughters expanded their influence in energy, real estate, etc., Lamar Hunt was the only Hunt who forayed into sports.

He established a vast empire that spread across soccer, American football, tennis, and basketball. In fact, the AFC Conference Championship trophy is named after him to recognize his contribution to gridiron football. Deemed “a founder of the NFL as we know it today” by Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Lamar Hunt eventually passed on all his sporting ownership to his children, which brings us to the current Kansas City Chiefs’ CEO.

Are Lamar Hunt and Clark Hunt related?

Clark Hunt is the son of Lamar Hunt and his second wife, Norma. After Lamar passed away in 2006, his wife and children became the co-owners of Kansas City Chiefs. Clark was voted by his siblings and mother to be the face of the organization, which officially made him the CEO and chairman of the NFL team. Under him, the Chiefs’ valuation in 2024 has become $5.43 billion – a 20% uptick over 2023.

Under the leadership of Clark, the Chiefs have become an NFL powerhouse, winning 3 Super Bowls, in 2020, 2023, and 2024, and as you all know, are in the hunt for a never-before-done Super Bowl 3-peat. Clark says what he does is for his dad, “I go to work thinking about preserving and growing my father’s passion and legacy.”

Besides the KC Chiefs, Clark is also the CEO of FC Dallas, and is one of the brains behind Major League Soccer (MLS), just like Lamar, who gave birth to AFC. MLS commissioner Don Garber says Clark is much like his father: “He is a run silent, run deep kind of guy. Doesn’t say a lot, but when he speaks, people listen, because his words are measured and thoughtful.”

But enough about soccer. Let’s come back to football, and back to the Kansas City Chiefs, whose birth too came at the hands of a Hunt.

Was Lamar Hunt the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs?

Kansas City Chiefs was founded in 1959 by Lamar Hunt when he couldn’t acquire an NFL team. Back then, the Chiefs were known as Dallas Texans and had their home in Texas. Lamar even founded the American Football League in parallel to the National Football League. Eventually, the Dallas Texans relocated to Kansas and became the Kansas City Chiefs.

Till 1970, the year of the merger of the AFL-NFL, the Chiefs won 4 AFL titles and the all-important 1969 Super Bowl. They wouldn’t win another NFL title until 2020, but the Chiefs are now the talk of the town. Nobody bets against them without thinking twice!!

The legacy of Lamar Hunt is in what he taught his son, Clark – that the ‘sports business is all about the fan and the experience that they have when they’re at the stadium.’ Clark recalls how for his father, the devil was in the details. And that Lamar had a keen eye that could spot the minute of details which would amplify the fan engagement.