What jerseys will the Chiefs wear against the 49ers? What is their Super Bowl record wearing red and white?

The Kansas City Chiefs will once again take on the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, just four years after the two teams last met in the NFL championship game. This year, like then, there was an obvious issue that quickly had to cleared up now the identities of the two contenders are known - which team would be wearing their traditional red home jersey?

When games are played at a neutral venue, “home” and “away” teams are normally designated, mainly for practical purposes. As was the case in 2019, the Chiefs will act as the home team for the game in Las Vegas on 11 February, although that didn’t automatically mean they were always going to wear red. It does, however, mean they were given the choice over which jersey they want to wear. Home or away? Red or white?

Chiefs to wear red again against 49ers in Las Vegas

Via their social media channels, Kansas City have revealed they have opted to play in their red home jersey, like they did four years ago. How much of an omen will that be as they look to become the eighth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls?

If we take that 2019 game in isolation, the Chiefs have taken an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. The boys in red won their second NFL championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens thanks to a 31-20 win over the 49ers, who were forced to switch to white, as they will do in just under two weeks’ time.

Mixed Super Bowl fortunes in red and white

Prior to that, the Chiefs had reached two Super Bowls, wearing their white away jersey in a heavy 35-10 defeat to the Green Bay Packers in the very first edition in 1966 (officially the AFL-NFL Championship Game). Three years later, they switched to red to face the Minnesota Vikings and their fortunes improved, a 23-7 triumph in New Orleans securing their first ever title.

Since the last Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl, Andy Reid’s team have featured in two end-of-season games with contrasting fortunes. In 2020, designated home team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers opted to wear white rather than red, although the Chiefs’ 100% home jersey record ended as they lost 31-9 in Tampa.

Last year, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co were forced into wearing white by the Philadelphia Eagles opting for green, but they got off the mark in their away jersey courtesy of a 38-35 win in Glendale.

The Chiefs therefore have a 2-1 Super Bowl record wearing their traditional red jersey and are 1-1 in their white change attire. What does that mean for this year’s game and does it actually matter? Sportspeople are a superstitious bunch, but the numbers from previous years suggest it’s unlikely to make too much of a difference.