Kansas City Chiefs Draft ‘Cash Cab,’ Host Ben Bailey to Fuel Schedule Reveal

It’s nearly 9 a.m. on the last Monday in April and the sky is blanketed by clouds after a grey weekend in Kansas City. But despite the absence of sunshine, something bright and yellow has landed in the middle of parking lot L at Arrowhead Stadium, home to the NFL’s ever-hot Kansas City Chiefs.

A shiny taxi-cab, emblazoned with a custom KC Taxi logo on its doors, is mounted on a trailer and surrounded by close to a dozen production crew members busy with last-minute logistics ahead of what will be a daylong shoot. “Talent is en route,” a staffer declares, and moments later a black sprinter van cruises by to unload a handful of camera-ready passengers led by Ben Bailey. The veteran comedian — best known as the host of Cash Cab, a beloved flashpoint of the reality game show genre — is ready to jump behind the wheel to ignite a unique pop culture crossover as the hometown heroes resuscitate his show as “Chiefs Cab,” a one-off special to help the team launch its 2025-26 schedule.

The Chiefs’ Cash Cab crosser is the latest entertainment-infused schedule reveal amid a buzzy trend that finds NFL teams (and their marketing and social media departments) getting creative to cut through the noise. And it seems to be working. Fans pore over the dates, outlets feverishly rank the best and worst schedule breaks, and there are Reddit threads dedicated to debating the virality of the team’s respective efforts. Last year’s winner was undoubtedly the Los Angeles Chargers, which produced an animated short inspired by The Sims. It has been viewed 38.5 million times on X.

“These viral schedule release videos have taken on a life of their own,” says Chiefs chief marketing officer Lara Krug of the phenomenon. “This year, we wanted to do something different and found a formula that works really well. How do we tap into entertainment and the cultural zeitgeist? The team came up with some ideas and the minute a concept surfaced around Cash Cab, we saw the potential. It’s such a nostalgic show with huge fans behind it. We thought, ‘What if we are able to bring it back and recreate it?’”

The Chiefs had good reason to mount a successful showing for next season’s dates. The season kicks off with an opening week game abroad on Sept. 5, facing off against the Chargers in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The NFL has struck a deal with YouTube to stream the game in what marks a first for such a partnership. Also noteworthy is that the Chiefs will take the field on Thanksgiving Day (week 13) versus the Dallas Cowboys and once again on Christmas Day (week 17) at Arrowhead Stadium by hosting the Denver Broncos in a matchup that will stream on Amazon Prime Video. (See the full schedule here, which includes seven games in primetime.)

But in order to rev the engine for “Chiefs Cab,” Krug said they needed to book the show’s Emmy Award-winning host for the driver’s seat. “There could be no version of this where you didn’t have the original host be a part of it,” she says. “We’re small and mighty [in the marketing department] and I’m just very proud of the team for pulling it off. There’s pressure every year to figure out how to do it and stand out amongst the other 31 teams.”

Not only were they able to book Bailey, the Chiefs filled the van with three separate groups that competed in a trivia game — a la the original show — complete with flashing ceiling lights to signal a correct answer. Those groups featured passengers including cornerback Trent McDuffie, former Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus, a trio of cheerleaders (Katie, Ari and Sadie) and a roster of social media influencers with Jason and Sophie Sadler, Jack O’Shea, Mikaela Pascal, and Steven and Jasmine Green.

Adds Krug: “We tried to arrange the passengers almost like puzzle pieces for each of the rides to have a combination of personalities, a current and former player, true fans of the team and influencers, some of whom have international appeal so it adds a sense of authenticity and goes a long way.”

Bailey was key to nailing that authenticity. “I couldn’t believe it,” Bailey tells THR of fielding the call for the gig. “It’s always fun to do something like this, especially for a big schedule reveal. I’m happy to be here and it’s been really fun.”

After describing himself as “a big football fan,” Bailey reveals a surprise about his day in Kansas City. “I’m not actually driving the cab this time.” As the host of the iconic game show, Bailey was not only tasked with maneuvering Cash Cab through the mean streets of New York City (and later, Las Vegas) but he had to quiz the contestants while doing so. His affable demeanor, a velvety game show voice and whip-smart replies garnered him loads of fans during the show’s run, which started on Discovery Channel (2005-2012) before moving to Bravo for a recent reboot.

Partnering with a high-caliber NFL team like the Chiefs would lead one to believe that maybe there’s more gas in the tank for Cash Cab. “The fact that it’s still relevant now and … people still want to see it and are still thinking about it, it could come back,” says Bailey. “ It did once so you never know. Reboots turned into a phenomenon and everybody looked through all the old shows considering what to bring back. Who knows?”

McDuffie would be thrilled to see a revival. “That was a really cool experience,” the star player tells THR. “When they first told me about it, I’d heard of it and maybe I had seen one or two episodes, but I hadn’t really watched it fully. I didn’t know how much money they were competing for. Once we got inside and got to play, I was like, ‘OK, I low-key really want to play this game.’ I actually wish it was Cash Cab, that’s how much fun it was.”

The cornerback even enjoyed being “stumped” by some of the trivia questions and learning facts about Coach Andy Reid, who was the subject of a question during his ride. But the opportunity also proved a test drive of what’s possible in the current era of NFL stars as on-camera personalities.

“Honestly, my biggest blessing is that we have Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes on the team,” says McDuffie. “Travis hosts shows like [Saturday Night Live] and does a bunch of commercials and Patrick has all of his commercials [and endorsement deals]. The past few years, I’ve been surrounded by that kind of atmosphere and it’s really cool. As a player in the NFL, you have more of a platform to try new things. We’re with the Chiefs and our faces are names now. We are the attraction of why fans want to come see us.”

And lately, there’s been more eyes than ever on the Chiefs thanks to Kelce and his significant other — global pop superstar Taylor Swift.

“We are in a very, very fortunate position because of the success on the field as well as our same level of success outside of the field or off the field, whether that’s with Taylor Swift being a part of what we call our Chief’s Kingdom or thanks to people like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and Coach Reid,” says Krug. “Not only are they unbelievable on the field but they are global superstars and brands, and people are becoming fans of the Chiefs because of them. … Our job, the team’s job and certainly my job is to meet our fans where they are and have them become lifelong Chiefs fans.” Even if that means picking them up for a ride to Arrowhead in a shiny yellow taxi-cab.