On a crisp afternoon in late September, thousands of ordinary people drive hundreds of miles from home to witness what they believe will ultimately be a sporting event that will go down in the record books. As fans enter the packed parking lot, their eyes light up as the enormous structure known as Arrowhead Stadium rises starkly above them against the autumn sky. When they pull into the car park, their watches read 11am, two hours until kick-off. They eagerly exit their vehicles and open their trunks to reveal grills and great times to come. These everyday people begin to carry on the legacy of pre-game tailgating, a rich tradition that encourages fans to meet complete strangers with only one thing in common: football. However, what on the surface appears to be simply an experience, watching great plays and rooting for your team, is actually a complex business arrangement based on the concept of making money. In fact, “Since the inception of professional sports, managing a team has always been a reasonable investment” (DeMause VII). Just as each team implements a certain set of scoring plays, each franchise implements a set of strategies to appeal to the average fan. What may seem like a satisfying Nathan's Hot Dog and an ice-cold Pepsi to fans is the product of complex profitability calculations made in a business office far from the events on the field. Professional sports in general, and the National Football League in particular, are not what they seem from a fan's perspective. As the Kansas City players enter the field for the opening kickoff and the pre-game festivities come to a close, the fans begin to settle in, allowing their team to focus on... the center of the card... to have a team made up of top players and a winning record. If a team was lucky enough to have all of this, it would just be a draw. To fully win this match, they need more than just a stadium and a team. They need to acquire as many night games as possible and without fans willing to purchase team merchandise no team will have a chance of becoming the team of legend. Only with a combination of the above tactics can a team truly maximize the team's profit and substantially increase the fan base.